Man's rampage at Vietnamese restaurant causes potentially over $40K in damages: affidavits
AUSTIN, Texas - A man is in custody after he went on a rampage at a Vietnamese restaurant on E. Oltorf over the weekend, arrest paperwork says.
30-year-old Baron Maximiliano Heinrich has been charged with state-jail felony terroristic threat with a pecuniary loss over $1500.
What we know:
Court paperwork details what happened on the evening of April 12 at 888 Pan Asian.
Officers were called to respond to multiple calls about a man in a green tank top flipping tables, throwing things at employees, and destroying the place, causing patrons to flee.
APD actually received two calls for service at the restaurant, with the second 911 call reporting shots fired and someone being potentially injured.
Video of APD response to 888 Pan Asian
Austin police responded to a man rampaging inside 888 Pan Asian on Oltorf. (Courtesy: Raquel Herrera)
Officers arrived and found multiple people leaving the restaurant and gathering around the sides. One person pointed police towards the front door of the restaurant. As an officer approached the doors, they heard a "loud popping noise" and saw "multiple glass panes of the establishment front being shattered."
Despite initial assumptions that the popping noise was gunshots, police say it was actually wine bottles exploding as they were thrown through the windows.
Officers gave commands to a man inside, who was later identified as Heinrich, to come out. He allegedly refused and continued to violently destroy property inside and throw objects at the officers.
When officers tried to go inside to detain Heinrich, they found an "extraordinary amount of damaged property which blocked the path and covered the floor." Numerous tables had been overturned and there was "extensive" broken glassware and plateware. A stainless-steel fountain-drink machine that was built into the bar had been flipped on its side, breaking a water line and flooding the floor.
More than eight officers were needed to detain Heinrich, the affidavit says.
Officers said Heinrich barricaded himself in a back office and refused to surrender, requiring the use of pepper ball rounds to get him to come out.
The affidavit says that officers learned from interviewing numerous witnesses that Heinrich had gone to the bathroom, and when he came back to the dining area, started flipping over tables "without warning." He pointed at the door while destroying things, causing patrons to quickly flee.
The restaurant's manager was there at the time and said his actions "made her feel scared and she feared the man was going to hurt her, especially given the size difference." She reported feeling scared he was going to use the tables as a weapon and strike her or her patrons, as well as being fearful he had additional weapons on him.
She also repeatedly asked police what would happen if Heinrich were to come back and whether he would be going to jail.
What they're saying:
888 Pan Asian Restaurant reopened on Tuesday.
Ryan Tran, the restaurant's general manager, said, "I think all the damage and also all the cost and all the everything is like over $60,000."
Tran said the moments leading up to the incident were like any other Sunday dinner rush at the restaurant.
"Very busy on that day. So it's rush hour, so they've been from, it happened like 6:30 p.m.," Tran said. "He did the curry, he did pho noodle soup. He had dessert, everything done, so we have no problem."
Tran said the man was dining with his family for about 40 minutes before paying the bill. After going to the restroom, witnesses say he suddenly began destroying property.
"I don't know what happened. He went to the restroom and he come out like all the crazy stuff come out," Tran said.
"It's a lot of people that scared to come back to work," Tran said. "We are closing in about like two days, and it takes us like over like 30 hours to clean everything up. Yeah, like everything is very messy."
Tran said most of the physical damage has been repaired, but support from customers and the community is helping the staff recover.
By the numbers:
The restaurant's manager estimated that the damages could be in excess of $40,000, with an estimated additional loss in sales of between $17,000 and $18,000.
What's next:
The restaurant's dining area was "rendered entirely unusable" and the business was shut down immediately. The business was closed for repairs and maintenance on Monday according to a post on their Google business page.
Heinrich has a court date set for May 11. He is still in the Travis County Jail as of April 14 on a $3,500 bond. He was given a medical evaluation before being booked.
In Texas, a state jail felony is punishable by six months to two years in jail and a fine up to $10,000.
The Source: Information in this report comes from court paperwork and jail records