A woman faces hate crime charges following an attack in a Panera Bread restaurant caught on video, Illinois police say.
Waseem Zahran said he was wearing a sweatshirt showing support of Palestine inside the Downers Grove restaurant on Saturday, Nov. 16, when a woman approached him and his wife, according to WFLD. He said the woman began shouting expletives about them and the war-torn country, according to WFLD.
Video shows the woman, identified by police as 64-year-old Alexandra Szustakiewicz, begin to attack the couple as Zahran’s pregnant wife filmed.
“She began to harass, swear and tried to spill hot coffee on them!!! All while no one even batted an eye to help them!” Ahlam Hamad, a relative of the couple, said in a Facebook post.
The minute-long video shared online shows a woman threaten to call the police as she continues to lunge toward the couple in the attack. Zahran was seen urging the woman to get away from his wife.
“I’m a born and raised American who took his wife out for lunch. I was not able to do that simply because I was Palestinian,” Waseem Zahran told the Council On American Islamic Relations-Chicago.
The Downers Grove Police Department said in a statement to McClatchy News the woman left the restaurant beforeofficers arrived. She was arrested at her Darien home Sunday, Nov. 17.
Szustakiewicz was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of hate crime, police said. The DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office said Szustakiewicz “committed a hate crime by reason of perceived national origin of the two victims.”
“Every member of society, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or any other individual characteristic, deserves to be treated with respect and civility,” State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a news release. “This type of behavior and the accompanying prejudice have no place in a civilized society and my office stands ready to file the appropriate charges in such cases.”
Zahran told WFLD that Panera workers comforted Szustakiewicz before they came to their aid.
“We are aware of the unfortunate incident that happened in our bakery-cafe, and we are working with our team to look into this matter,” Panera said in a statement to WFLD. “Panera seeks to foster a warm and welcoming environment for all.”
In a court hearing Nov. 18, a judge granted the state’s attorney’s request for Szustakiewicz to have no contact with the victims and for her to be bared from the Panera Bread where the incident happened, according to a news release. She is due in court again Dec. 16.
Downers Grove is about a 25-mile drive southwest from downtown Chicago.
This story was originally published November 18, 2024 11:45 AM.