A parking spot dispute in the shadow of South Philadelphia’s iconic cheesesteak shops left a man burning from a pepper spray attack.
Witness Joseph Anastasio said he's seen a lot of fights over parking in South Philly, but pepper-spray incident early on July 24 was a first.
"First time I've ever seen somebody get pepper sprayed over a parking spot,” Anastasio said. "The kid was burning in his eyes."
Using surveillance video released Thursday, Philadelphia police pinpointed the moment a woman left her SUV and pepper sprayed a man sitting on a stoop across from Pat's King of Steaks.
“She said ‘you better watch how you're talking to a woman’ and sprayed him with mace," Anastasio said.
Prior to the pepper spray, the video shows the woman and another man arguing with the victim over a parking space at Wharton Street and E Passyunk Avenue.
The victim had some choice words for the couple, Anastasio said.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
After grabbing some cheesesteaks, the woman -- still bothered by the comments -- confronted the driver and pepper sprayed him.
"That's messed up,” Anastasio said. “It shouldn't even be like that,"
Since this happened in a popular area of South Philly, police hope visitors to Pat's or Geno's, or homeowners saw a black Hyundai SUV with a Maryland license plate leave the scene. Anyone with information should contact Philadelphia police.
