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Man stabbed at Tucson restaurant -- attack caught on camera

Posted at 10:20 PM, Sep 03, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-04 20:31:15-04

A local restaurant manager is recovering after being stabbed six times while closing up shop late Thursday night.

It happened around 11 p.m. at Chariot Pizza on the Northwest Side, according to owner Charles Ryan.

The attack was caught on security cameras -- but the two people were wearing bandanas, long sleeves, and hats to mask their identities.

The owner explained the two people came in through the back door and pepper sprayed an employee. While he was blinded -- they went behind the bar and tackled the manager, and proceeded to stab him six times. They chased the employee who was pepper sprayed out, then back in and made him hide underneath a sink before they left -- with no money.

Ryan wants these two people arrested and to be charged with attempted murder.

"I'm hoping that they charge them with attempted murder," he said. "They stabbed him six times, and kicked him in the head three times - after they stabbed him. So I mean, I don't know - if that's not attempted murder, I don't know what is."

A restaurant owner for 23 years, he explained nothing like this had ever happened before at either of his two locations.

"I've owned the other store for 23 years," Ryan said. "We've been burglarized three times, where they just broke the window, came in, took the cash drawer and left. At this location we've never been burglarized or robbed before. This is the very first time."

Because of that, he thinks everybody in the restaurant had probably been a bit too relaxed about security.

"We've probably been a little relaxed. You know, they keep the back door unlocked because we're taking the garbage in and out," he said.

Moving forward, he plans on adding more security, from lights outside to 2 more security cameras. Currently, there are 16 cameras at the restaurant -- he plans on making that number 18 as soon as he can.

"Add more lighting out back so it's brighter. We're going to keep that back door locked," Ryan said. "Until everybody leaves we're going to try and keep a few more people working so they leave all at once and don't leave anybody here all by themselves."

He is working with the police to figure out where to go next -- but his goal is to find out who these people are and have them arrested.