A late night visit to a McDonald’s on 17 Avenue Southwest earlier this week ended with one man suffering cuts and a broken nose following a dispute between former members of a local dance group.

Jonh Monk says he had been out for a couple of drinks with a friend on Tuesday night when they decided to stop for food at the McDonald’s in the 1400 block of 17 Ave. S.W. in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

“We’re sitting, just enjoying our food, when a couple people came up to us and started swinging at us,” said Monk.

The restaurant’s surveillance cameras captured both the initial attack at the hands of two unnamed men and the victims’ attempts to defend themselves. Monk was chased to the front counter by a third man where the offenders resumed throwing punches .

“I got some bumps and bruises, some scratches,” said Monk. “My friend spent the night in the hospital. He’s got a broken nose and some stitches in his mouth.”

Monk says the attack was not random and he knows his assailants.

“I’ve known them for almost a year now and I’m very surprised that it would happen,” said Monk. “We used to be part of a dance group here in Calgary so that’s how we all kind of knew each other.”

The Wednesday morning attack was not the first encounter between the two groups. “There was an incident earlier in the night at another venue,” said Monk.

Monk says his attackers had accused him of stealing $6,000 from them last summer.

Following Wednesday morning’s attack, Monk secured a copy of the restaurant’s surveillance recording and provided it to police along with the names of his attackers. Monk says he’s frustrated with what he considers to be a lack of progress.

“I’m very surprised,” said Monk. “The police have the video and nothing’s moved forward.”

“It’s blatantly right there that we were sitting there enjoying our meal and we were attacked and tried to defend ourselves.”

In a statement to CTV Calgary, Calgary Police Service officials confirm an investigation is underway into the December 28 incident:

In this case, the responding officers found nothing to indicate that there was an immediate safety risk or need for the investigation to continue while the primary officer is on his regular days off. This incident will be fully investigated and charges will be laid, if the evidence supports it, when the primary investigator returns to work next week.

If the victim believes they are in danger of further attack during the investigation, they should contact police through their investigator or the non-emergency line. Officers will help them assess the risk, develop a plan for their safety and determine if the investigation needs to move forward more quickly.