Police: Diners' Refusal to Pay Customer Service Fee Leads to Assault Charges at Hooters

Two men were arrested and charged with assault after police said they threatened a restaurant manager for writing down their license plate numbers when their group attempted to leave without paying the bill.

Oak Lawn police said Corliss B. Holland, 51, of Chicago, and DeAngelo Holeman, 25, of Streamwood, were part of a large family group that entered Hooters at 9139 S. Cicero Ave. and ordered meals around 3:23 p.m. Feb. 7.

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When family members learned a customer service fee would be tacked on to the bill because of their large group, police said Holland and Holeman became angry and refused to pay for their meals with the service fee.

The manager and another employee followed the group outside when they left en masse without paying the bill. As the manager attempted to write down license plate numbers of the group’s departing cards, Holland and Holeman approached the manager in a threatening manner, police said.

Both allegedly began yelling obscenities at the manager and told her she was not going to take down their plate numbers. Police said the manager backed away because she was afraid they would both attack her. Family members eventually pulled the two men back from the manager.

Other restaurant employees who witnessed the confrontation gave similar accounts, police said. Both men taken to the Oak Lawn police station, where they were charged with assault.

Police said family members went back into Hooters and paid for the entire meal.

Holland and Holeman’s next court appearance is Feb. 23.

Read past Hooters police news:

Police report information is provided by the Oak Lawn Police Department and other law enforcement agencies. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.