Man refusing to wear mask smashes Centretown restaurant window

The Ottawa Police Service is investigating an incident at the Atomic Rooster on Bank Street in Centretown, in which a man threw a chalkboard through a window.

Bartender Christie Millen was working Tuesday, September 8, in the afternoon, and says a man walked into the restaurant without a mask to order a drink. She ended up serving him outside because he couldn't be inside without a mask, but when he came in to use the washroom, Millen again had to remind him that he isn't allowed inside without a mask.

It was then that the customer, who Millen says she had dealt with before, got upset and said he just wanted his drink. The bartender explains that she then chose to no longer serve the man and politely brought him his bill. 

Millen says the man “said some awful things” as she tried to get him to leave without having to call the police. That's when she says he told her to call the police, picked up a chalkboard sitting outside and threw it through one of the Atomic Rooster's windows.

Unfortunately Millen says these kinds of incidents have become a bit more common for restaurant and retail staff members in recent months.

“We're all of a sudden having to add this extra layer of enforcing people fill out their personal information for contact tracing and put a mask on. And you can only expect, in this day and age, that people are angry and afraid and tired, and I've kind of just been expecting people to act out,” she explains.

Police responded to the incident at 2:20 p.m. on Tuesday.

Their investigation is ongoing.