Subway employee says she was punched by customer: 'I blacked out'

Hope Schreiber
·Writer
Updated ·2 min read
A college student was punched by a customer at Subway after he became irate she verified he was not using a counterfeit bill. (Photo: Channel 9)
A college student was punched by a customer at Subway after he became irate she verified he was not using a counterfeit bill. (Photo: Channel 9)

A woman working at Subway says she was punched by an irate customer after he became enraged when she verified that his money was not counterfeit. Now Charlotte, North Carolina, police are searching for the man who attacked the local college student.

Haven Neal, a student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, told WSOC-TV that the interaction on Sunday was standard right until the moment the man went to pay.

“I made the sandwich. Everything was fine, no problems, and then we got to the end,” she told the news station.

According to Neal, when the male customer handed her his money, she verified it was not counterfeit, which is standard practice for larger bills in many restaurants and stores.

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“And when I scanned it, he got upset I thought his money was fake," she said. “I just proceeded to hand him his change. He threw it on the counter, asked me to pick it up and hand it back to him.”

Neal said the man spat on the counter. As the college student tried to sanitize the counter, the man came back and punched her in the face, knocking her out.

Neal suffered a cracked tooth and damaged several nerves, and she had to be taken to the hospital for stitches, WSOC-TV reported. She also suffered a chest contusion from falling over when she was hit.

“I blacked out for a few seconds. I don’t remember falling at all,” she said.

After the attack, the man fled the store, and police have been unable to find him. Law enforcement officials are in the process of obtaining surveillance video from inside the store.

The dedicated worker attempted to return to work the very next day but was forced to leave early due to the pain she was experiencing. She plans to return to Subway on Saturday, WSOC-TV reported.

“I don’t think he'll return, so that's not what I'm worried about,” said Neal.

Subway provided the following statement to Yahoo Lifestyle: “The safety of guests and restaurant teams is a priority for everyone at Subway. We do not condone violence of any kind. We are glad Haven is recovering. The Franchise Owner is assisting the police investigation and has provided restaurant surveillance footage of this incident to the police.”

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle's requests for comment.

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