HOBOKEN AND BEYOND — You think Cake Boss has all the culinary drama in Hoboken? Eat your heart out, Buddy!
Apparently, a little scuffle between restaurant owners on the next block on Tuesday resulted in police being called.
According to police, two Hoboken Italian restaurant owners on Washington Street had an incident in which one accused the other of “stealing” a worker.
(To be clear, neither of these owners works with the Cake Boss. Their restaurants are a block away.)
Police say they responded to the 200 block of Washington Street on the report of an alleged assault at 11:30 p.m. on April 26. When police arrived, they met with a restaurant owner who said he was allegedly punched in the face, and had coffee thrown on him.
The victim said he was closing his business when he saw an owner of another restaurant, who is a 74-year-old Hoboken man, and waved and said hello, according to police.
The 74-year-old man then allegedly said to the victim: “Don’t say hello to me; you stole my worker from me,” according to police.
The victim alleges that the other owner yelled at him and came within inches of his face, according to police. Police say the other owner then allegedly threw a cup of coffee at him.
When police arrived, the 74-year-old accused man said he was admittedly upset that a worker left to go to the competing restaurant, but denied punching the victim and said the coffee was accidentally spilled, not thrown, according to police.
He was arrested and charged with simple assault, and then released on a summons.