Vandals Destroyed a Florida Pizza Shop Because They Hated Its Garlic Knots

For many hard-working pizza chefs across America, the romantic image of the yeast-nurturing, dough-throwing pizza-maker is nothing less than a mirage. For whatever reason, pizzerias are frequent hubs of criminal activities like robbery, cocaine deals, lewd acts of pizza love, and crazy gun-wielding customers. It's hard out there for a pizzaiolo.

And this weekend was no different for a pizzeria in Palm Coast, Florida, where a band of picky-eating hoodlums wreaked havoc after being served what one of them alleged were unsatisfactory garlic knots, according to local news outlet Flaglerlive.com.

The incident took place after Palm Coast resident Jessica Conti, disappointed with the garlic knots she had ordered, became "verbally argumentative" with the staff of Palm Coast Pizza who quickly reimbursed her after she demanded her money back.

But that move did little the appease Conti, who became even more angered, feeling "disrespected by the way the money was put down on the counter and became more irate," a police report said, at which point all hell broke loose in the pizza shop.

Conti's three male companions, who were waiting for her outside of the restaurant, soon caught wind of the customer service issue and proceeded to go on a rampage inside the pizzeria, first by pushing cash registers and fax machines off of counters, and then by entering the kitchen and "throwing pizza boxes and food everywhere," Flaglerlive reported. As a coup de grâce, one of the ruffians threw a glass jar of Parmesan cheese from the kitchen into the dining room, hitting a mounted TV screen.

The vandals left the scene before police arrived, though they were quickly identified by fellow diners who recognized them. They were all arrested and charged with burglary of an occupied structurea second-degree felony, and criminal mischief causing damage of under $1,000.

MUNCHIES spoke with staff members of Palm Coast Pizza, who said they were back in operation but did not want to discuss the garlic knot incident on record.