When Victoria's Diner says restrooms are for patrons only, they mean it

A man who said he couldn't wait to get a table before heading for the men's room found himself in a battle with a security guard at Victoria's Diner - and in trouble with the law.

The incident happened around 4 a.m. on July 22, a police detective and the diner's owner told the Boston Licensing Board this morning.

According to both sides, the man entered the diner, one of Boston's few late-night eateries and began heading to the back, where the restrooms are. A security guard told him he had to wait to be seated and pointed to a sign that the restrooms are for patrons only.

Sgt. Det. Kenneth O'Brien of District C-6, reading from a police report, said the man waved dismissively, made a "Psssh" sound and kept heading to the back.

The guard moved to stop him and they began to tussle, O'Brien said. Police said several patrons rushed to help the guard subdue him. When police, called by the diner, arrived, the man began screaming about what a "punk bitch" the guard was - and said he still needed to use the restroom. Police uncuffed him long enough to let him use the restroom. O'Brien said he spent five or ten minutes in there yelling obscenities before finally settling down to business.

O'Brien added that as police escorted him out, he stopped at "multiple tables" to tell people seated there how he was being mistreated. O'Brien added that about an hour later, he drove by the restaurant, slowly, with his hand out the window, formed in a pistol shape. O'Brien said police have taken out a criminal complaint against him.

Diner owner Sheree Marciante told the board the customers-only policy is because the rear room, through which you have to pass to get to the restrooms, is where the diner's ATM is and where it stores liquor after the mandatory 2 a.m. cutoff time for alcohol service. "We had no idea where he was going or what he was going to do," she said.

Board Chairwoman Christine Pulgini signaled her intent to issue no violation over the incident. Addressing Marciante, she said, "You know what? I believe you, and I think the sergeant detective believes you." She then asked O'Brien if he felt diner workers that night "did everything they could do" to keep a situation from getting out of hand. "Absolutely," he replied.