Valerie Edwards, Daily Mail, May 10, 2017

An IHOP waitress was arrested Friday morning for allegedly pulling a steak knife on a New York family after an argument over poor service.

Police said the waitress, Rhonda Kelly, pulled the knife on a family-of-four, including two special needs children, both under the age of four.

The mother said she and her family received poor service at the pancake house on Sunrise Highway in Massapequa, according to NBC 4.

They asked to speak to the manager and the manager asked them to leave, the mother said.

When the family got up to leave, they overheard another waitress comment about their kids’ disabilities and turned back around, according to NBC.

The wait staff allegedly surrounded the family and an argument ensued.

According to the mother, Kelly who had been serving the family grabbed a steak knife and threatened the parents and kids.

No one was injured after another IHOP employee snatched the knife from Kelly.

The mother of the family, who have not been identified, said they were shaken up after she, her husband and their children were surrounded by the pancake restaurant’s wait staff.

A statement released by the franchise owner, Camile Gnolfo, says the business is cooperating with a police investigation.

Gnolfo said in the statement that the company wishes the ‘outcome had been different’, but several ’employees reacted to what they viewed as an immediate threat to their personal safety’

Authorities said Kelly was arrested on a charge of menacing, and is due in court later this month.

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