A Manhattan mother accused of stabbing a rowdy restaurant mate at a Ruth’s Chris Steak House was only defending herself, her family told the Post – calling her $40,000 bail “unfair”.
Joan Thompson, 31, told police she had ‘no memory’ of Friday night’s attack at West 51st restaurant where she allegedly stabbed a 24-year-old man in the back and punctured his lung during an argument, prosecutors said outside the night court on Saturday.
“It’s not even his fault,” Thompson’s father, Carlos Stapleton, said in Manhattan Criminal Court after his arraignment.
“My daughter told me about what happened…that she was in a restaurant eating, and people started an argument with them,” Stapleton, 84, said. “The man came, restrained my daughter, then the man’s wife went to punch my daughter in the face. Now what is my daughter supposed to do? Lay down there?”
Thompson, a Costco supervisor and mother of two sons, was brought before Judge Kevin McGrath who ordered bail set at $40,000 at the request of Assistant District Attorney Samantha McCarthy.
“It’s very unfair,” Stapleton said of the bail. “It’s really unfair. This type of bail isn’t even when it’s the girl’s fault. It means anyone can bother you these days and you can’t protect yourself – c is what it looks like.
Thompson and a cousin were eating at Ruth’s Chris on Friday night when a large group nearby argued with restaurant staff over the bill, sources and prosecutors said.
But something made the band members turn their attention to Thompson — possibly a comment that the band was making too much noise, sources said. A woman from the larger group allegedly went up to Thompson and said, “You look like shit the way you dress.”
The eventual victim began throwing fists and hitting Thompson’s cousin, a previously former Post source.
Cellphone video of the attack obtained by investigators allegedly showed Thompson standing in a chair with a steak knife while screaming, before she made a stabbing gesture towards the victim, prosecutors told the court on Saturday evening .
“I am really upset by the whole situation. We were attacked,” Thompson’s cousin told the Post. “We were having dinner. We were having dinner quietly and we were attacked. It is unfair.”
After the stabbings, the two fled the restaurant without paying. Thompson was arrested after 2 a.m. Saturday after cops tracked her down using her name from the dinner reservation, prosecutors alleged.
When cops showed her the video of her attack, she admitted it was her and said she argued, but ‘claimed to have no memory of the assault’, prosecutors claimed .
She was charged with assault and threatening, but prosecutors said they may increase the charges after reviewing the victim’s medical records.
The victim, reached by phone on Saturday, told the Post “I feel fine” but declined to speak further, saying “I know you’re looking for a story, but I’m not going on air.”
Thompson appeared in court wearing a black sweatshirt, black Adidas pants and blue Crocs, with her attorney Quincy Myers asking that she be released on probation or released on her own recognizance since she had no recognizance. criminal record and was a working mother of two songs, ages 21 and 11.
But Judge Kevin McGrath granted prosecutors’ bail request because Thompson “left the scene of the crime after allegedly stabbing someone,” he said.
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