The New York Post:
An unhinged man flew into a dyspeptic rage Saturday morning when he was asked to leave a West Village diner, shoving a 77-year-old cook into a plate glass window and then running off to Washington Square Park — where three brave employees found and held him until cops arrived, workers told The Post.
The disturbing incident unfolded around 9:45 a.m. in the Washington Square Diner on 6th Avenue and West 4th Street when the man — who police identified as Gregory Conwell, 27, of Red Hook — began bothering customers, workers said.
Workers said Conwell has been in the diner multiple times before, annoying patrons and even pretending to be one of the waiters. On Saturday, they said, he came in to use the restroom.
When he was asked to leave, he flew into a rage, the NYPD and diner workers said.
“He started cursing and screaming and yelling and doing whatever he wanted, and then he grabbed the chef and threw him on the window” [on the West 4th Street side of the building], diner manager George Takos told The Post.
The NYPD said the 77-year-old cook was tossed into the glass after he tried to escort Conwell out of the diner.
Conwell fled but was chased by three diner employees to nearby Washington Square Park, where they detained him until police showed up, said the workers, one of whom claimed a crack pipe fell out of the man’s pocket during the tussle.
