Elderly Austin restaurant owner assaulted by customers who did not want to pay

AUSTIN, Texas - The owner of Chekos, a Mexican restaurant in Austin, says he was injured after asking a group of customers to leave. Now, he and his family want help identifying the suspects who were caught on camera. 

In 16 years of running the restaurant, Sergio Alberto Vazquez, who is in his 70s, says he's never gone through anything like what happened on April 28. 

It started when a group of two women and one man didn't want to pay.

"I say, 'okay, don't worry about it. Don't pay me, but please leave the restaurant and don't come back,'" Sergio said. 

In surveillance video, the group can be seen starting to break plates before walking out. 

"I took my phone and I tried to take a picture of the license plates of the car that was driving, and the guy had just come down from the car and started hitting me," Sergio said. "One of the girls came over and pulled me from my shirt and sent me to the ground by the parking lot. So I hurt my finger and hurt my nose."

Some customers tried to help, but the group left before police showed up. 

MORE STORIES:

• Opioid overdose outbreak in Austin kills 8 people: ATCEMS
• UT Austin Palestine protest: Travis County attorney makes statement on arrests
• 8-year-old, her mother recovering after truck hits them in Northeast Austin

"I can't believe this happened to me right now because this has never happened to me before," Sergio said. 

"When he got home, he had a very bloody nose, blood all over his shirt, and his finger, his hand was hurt with blood," said Minerva Vazquez, Sergio's wife. She asked him, 'why didn't you take me with you?'" 

The APD Incident Database shows an "injury to elderly" offense at the Chekos address on Sunday.

Sergio's daughter, Maria Vazquez, says Sergio is seen as a father figure in the community and has helped customers who were unable to pay multiple times before. 

"We do want to create this awareness for everybody to see, for everybody to know and to help us recognize who [the suspects] are," she said. "It's not about the money. The bill is not a big thing. We will hit a loss. It's fine, but to be physically abusive to somebody, that's traumatizing."

The family wants to get the word out, so they can continue serving customers in a safe environment. 

"We do want to make sure that this is a safe place for everybody that comes because it's a family business, it's a family restaurant," Maria said.