mother in Manhattan Accused of stabbing dinner naughty colleague At Ruth’s home, Chris Steakhouse was only defending herself, her family told The Post — calling her $40,000 bail “unfair.”
Joanne Thompson, 31, claimed to police she had “no recollection” of the Friday night attack in West 51st.Street restaurant where she claimed A 24-year-old man was stabbed in the back In overnight court on Saturday, prosecutors said, they pierced his lung during an argument.
“It’s not her fault,” Thompson’s father, Carlos Stapleton, said outside Manhattan Criminal Court after she was indicted.
Stapleton, 84, said: “My daughter talked to me about what had happened…that she was in a restaurant eating, and people started arguing with them. The man came and grabbed my daughter and then the man’s wife went to slap my daughter in the face. Now what is my daughter supposed to do? Bow down.” there?”
Thompson, a Costco supervisor and mother of two, was called before Judge Kevin McGrath who ordered him released on $40,000 bail at the request of Assistant District Attorney Samantha McCarthy.
“It’s very unfair,” Stapleton said of the bail. “Very unfair. That kind of bail isn’t even when it’s a girl’s fault. It means anyone can bother you these days and you can’t protect yourself – that’s what it looks like. It’s what it is.”
Thompson and his cousin were eating at Ruth’s Chris’ Restaurant on Friday night when a large group nearby got into an argument with restaurant staff over the bill, sources and prosecutors alleged.
But something prompted the group’s members to turn their attention to Thompson – possibly commenting that the group’s vocals were too loud, sources said. A woman from the larger group allegedly went to Thompson and told her, “You look like the way you dress.”
The victim eventually began throwing punches and hitting Cousin Thompson, a former longtime source for The Post.
Prosecutors in court said Saturday night that a mobile phone video of the attack obtained by investigators allegedly showed Thompson standing on a chair with a steak knife while screaming, before she lodged an appeal against the victim.
“I am really upset about the whole situation. We were attacked,” Cousin Thompson told the newspaper. “We were having dinner. We had a nice quiet dinner and were attacked. This is unfair.”
After being stabbed, the two escaped from the restaurant without paying. Prosecutors alleged that Thompson was arrested just after 2 a.m. Saturday after police tracked her down using her name from a dinner reservation.
When cops showed her the video of her attack, she admitted it was her and said she got into an argument but “she claims she doesn’t remember the actual stabbing,” the prosecution alleged.
She was charged with assault and intimidation, but prosecutors said they might increase the charges after reviewing the victim’s medical records.
The victim, contacted by phone on Saturday, told The Post “I feel great” but refrain from talking more “I know you’re looking for a story, but I won’t go live,” she says.
Thompson appeared in court wearing a black Adidas T-shirt, black pants and blue Crocs, and her attorney Quincy Myers called for her to be released under supervision or released on her own pledge given she had no criminal record and was a working mom of two songs, aged 21 and 11.
But Judge Kevin McGrath agreed to the prosecution’s request for bail because Thompson “left the crime scene after she allegedly stabbed someone,” he said.
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