A Manhattan mother accused of stabbing a rowdy restaurant mate at Ruth’s Chris Steak House was just defending herself, her family told the Post, calling the $ 40,000 bail “unfair”.
Joan Thompson, 31, told police she “had no memory” of the Friday night attack on West 51S. restaurant where he allegedly stabbed a 24-year-old man in the back and punctured his lung during an argument, prosecutors outside the night court said Saturday.
“It’s not even his fault,” Thompson’s father Carlos Stapleton told the Manhattan Criminal Court following his subpoena.
“My daughter told me what happened … that she was in a restaurant eating and people started arguing with them,” said Stapleton, 84. “The man came, held my daughter, then the man’s wife went to punch my daughter in the face. Now what should my daughter do? Lie there? “
Thompson, a Costco supervisor and mother of two, was brought before Judge Kevin McGrath who ordered a bail set at $ 40,000 at the request of assistant district attorney Samantha McCarthy.
“It’s very unfair,” Stapleton said of the bail. “He is really unfair. This kind of bail isn’t even when it’s the girl’s fault. That means anyone can bother you these days and you can’t protect yourself – that’s what it looks like. It is what it is.
Thompson and a cousin were eating at Ruth’s Chris on Friday night when a large group nearby argued with restaurant staff about the bill, sources and prosecutors said.
But something prompted the band members to turn their attention to Thompson, possibly a comment that the band was making too much noise, the sources said. A woman from the larger group would go to Thompson and say, “You look like shit the way you dress.”
The eventual victim began punching and hitting Thompson’s cousin, a former Post source.
The video of the attack obtained by investigators on the cell phone allegedly showed Thompson standing in a chair with a steak knife screaming, before she made a stabbing gesture at the victim, prosecutors told the court Saturday night.
“I’m really shocked by the whole situation. We were attacked, “Thompson’s cousin told the Post.” We were having dinner. We were having dinner in silence and we were attacked. It’s not fair. “
After the stabbings, the two fled the restaurant without paying. Thompson was arrested after 2am Saturday after cops tracked her down using her name from the dinner reservation, prosecutors said.
When cops showed her the video of her attack, she admitted it was her and said she had argued, but “she claimed she has no memory of the attack,” prosecutors said.
She was charged with assault and threats, but prosecutors said they could escalate the charges after reviewing the victim’s medical records.
The victim, reached by phone on Saturday, told the Post “I feel fine” but refused to speak further, saying “I know you are looking for a story, but I will not air”.
Thompson appeared in court wearing a black hoodie, black Adidas pants and blue Crocs, with her attorney Quincy Myers asking her to be released on probation or released on her own authorization as she had no criminal record and was a working mother of two songs, 21 and 11 years old.
But Judge Kevin McGrath granted the prosecutors’ bail request because Thompson “left the crime scene after allegedly stabbing someone,” he said.
