2x4 Assault Of An Applebee's Employee Goes Viral On Facebook

Timothy Phares

Posting on Facebook about an incident at the Rice Lake Applebee's burger restaurant and the 2x4 beating of an employee at a different location goes viral.

By H. Nelson Goodson

March 23, 2013

Rice Lake, WI - On Thursday, a Facebook (FB) friend of Timothy "Tim" Phares posted and wanted to share a photo of him exhibiting a facial injury and a brief detailed account of several incidents that have circulated and gone viral on Facebook. Phares who worked as a waiter at the Rice Lake Applebee's burger restaurant apparently was called out loud a "faggot" by a customer last week. The manager on duty failed to take action or to ask the customer to leave the restaurant. Phares became very upset that the management failed to act and gave his two weeks notice. According to a majority of posted comments from customers who Phares had served said, he was a "good," "excellent waiter" and "very nice person." 

Phares hasn't actually admitted to his sexual preference and his FB account page is private. The recent posting appears to have been posted by Kaisa Witkowski who forwarded the link to both Phares FB page and to the Applebee's Rice Lake FB pg.

The FB posting stated, "Tim was upset about this, so he decided to put in his 2 weeks notice. That same weekend, on the 16th, he was attacked at another eating establishment by a women he works with at applebees.

Although she did not physically attack Tim, she drove her husband to where Tim was, and her husband hit Tim in the face with a 2x4... after yelling "faggot". He left it there, and he and his wife drove off."

Phares' sister was at the scene and managed to call police. She was able to identify the suspects who were later located.

Phares suffered fractured bones to his cheek and a broken jaw, according to the FB posting.
On March 20, Rien L. Hendricks, 35, appeared at the Barron County Court and was charged with one felony count of sustainable battery with intend of bodily harm in connection with Phares assault. A $10,000 signature bond was set for Hendricks. A preliminary hearing for Hendricks is set for March 25.
Hendricks was taken into custody on March 17. Rice Lake police continue to investigate whether an additional suspect will be charged.
People who heard about the beating called Applebee's where he worked to ask about his welfare. The district manager then called Phares "and basically told him that he didn't appreciate it because Applebees has "nothing" to do with the incident. Tim tried to take back his 2 week notice, and the managers would not let him," according to the FB posting. The manager at the Rice Lake Applebee's is Tara Steinburg. Attempts to reach Steinburg and Phares were unsuccessful. 

Applebee's released the following statement,  "While this horrible incident did not take place at or near an Applebee's restaurant, we will provide any assistance we can to local law enforcement and continue to look in to the incident internally."

As of early Friday, comments condemning the lack of alleged actions by the manager and not rehiring Phares have been posted in the FB Rice Lake Applebee's page.

Other comments by FB users that have been posted indicate that they can't believe it actually happened.