MIAMI (WSVN) - A bartender at a restaurant in downtown Miami is sharing her story after, she said, she was the victim of a violent encounter that left her with a concussion and a broken tooth.
Speaking exclusively to 7News, the bartender, who asked not to be identified, said the attack occurred at Bayside Marketplace on Sunday evening.
“It was so scary; it all happened so fast, the way his facial expression changed,” she said. “I’m like walking in like this, I have my head down, and I look up and see him.”
Surveillance video captured an angry customer pushing the bartender to the ground before walking out of the business.
The victim told 7News it all began when she had words with the customer.
“The guy comes up to the service bar, he’s just standing there, and I told him, ‘No, you can’t be there.’ He ignores me, and I come up to him, and I’m like, ‘Hey, sir, I can’t have you eating the garnishes; that’s for drinks.’ Because he was eating the fruit,” she said. “And he was like, ‘What do you want me to do, [expletive]? Want me to spit it out?’ I’m like, ‘No, finish it, but I can’t have you standing here,’ and he just got really upset.”
The bartender said the man called over her manager to complain.
“He tells the manager he’s a veteran, he has [post-traumatic stress disorder], he doesn’t let any woman talk to him like that,” she said.
The bartender said she thought the encounter was over, but 30 minutes later, as she was walking back into the restaurant, the two crossed paths again.
‘That’s when we had our run-in, and he shoved me, just like shoved me down. I hit my head super hard. I got up and started looking around like, ‘OK, no one is going to chase after him?'” she said.
After seeing everyone standing around, the bartender took matters into her own hands and chased after him in an attempt to take pictures of him.
“I’m calling him like, ‘Hey! Turn around, turn around,’ to get his face,” she recounted.
Outside Bayside’s Hard Rock Cafe, the victim said the man attacked her a second time.
“And he turns around and steps close to me, and he just smacks the phone out of my hand. And [he grabbed me] somewhere in my face or neck, just shoved me down, and I hit my head like this this time, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, my tooth!'” she said.
The bartender had to undergo emergency dental work done for her missing tooth and suffered bruises from both attacks. She also said she was diagnosed with a concussion.
She said the experience has left her traumatized.
“It’s become a trend for this violence against women, and it’s kind of being normalized. We see this happening a lot everywhere. I just don’t want to let another one of these people get away with that, especially since he felt so comfortable doing it to me,” she said. “Miami and beyond, please help me find this guy so we can bring justice to this situation.”
The bartender said she is too scared to return to work at the Hard Rock Cafe.
As of Wednesday morning, detectives have not identified the man as a suspect.
City of Miami Police have taken a report on the incident. Detectives with the department’s assault unit urge people to come forward with information for the investigation and contact them at 305-603-6640.
Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.