Authorities charge Pat's King of Steaks cheesesteak-throwing suspect

A customer captured on video throwing a cheesesteak at a manager of Pat's King of Steaks turned himself in and was charged with harassment, police said.

The man surrendered Thursday, with charges announced Friday morning, according to a Philadelphia police spokesperson.

It comes after Pat's King of Steaks offered $5,000 for information leading to an arrest and charges in the incident. Surveillance video appears to show the man throwing a cheesesteak into a manager's face Wednesday in South Philadelphia.

General manager Tom Francano said the customer walked up to the window and ordered the sandwich. About 10 minutes later, Francano recalled, the customer returned with the opened cheesesteak and said, "This steak's garbage."

After a back-and-forth over the sandwich's quality, Francano said he asked other customers about their cheesesteaks, and they replied that they were fine.

"That's when he got a little pissed off. He got mad, and he picked the steak up and threw it at me," said Francano, adding that he thought the customer might be some kind of social media influencer. "He had this phone on, you know, on a pole, taking pictures outside and everything."

Shop owner Frank Olivieri said the video he reviewed showed the customer ripping the sandwich apart by hand before approaching the window.

"He assaulted my employee, so we'll see how many of his friends that he has online are really his friends, see who's going to turn him in first," Olivieri said. "The power of the camera, AI, we'll find him. We'll find him. $5,000, we'll pull him out of whatever rock he's living under right now."