A group of unruly friends is being sought by police after earning themselves the title of world’s worst diners.
The party of seven strolled into a restaurant on the Lake of the Ozarks reservoir in Missouri on Friday night when the trouble began.
Liahna Bertels, who was working the late-night shift at the Fish and Company eatery said the problems were sparked by her refusal to serve a drink to a woman in the gang who didn’t have proper ID.
The group allegedly seethed over the incident before eventually ordering food.
However, the kitchen was particularly busy that evening so the meals took longer than usual to prepare.
The angry group complained that it was all taking too long and they wanted to leave, so Bertels said she offered to pack their food up in takeaway boxes, KY3 reports.
However, rather than pay their bill of around $150 (roughly £120), they pulled a runner, and headed back to their boat on the dock.
Surveillance footage captured Bertels running after them, demanding that they settle the tab.
In response, she said one of the members grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the lake as the boat pulled away.
Lake of the Ozarks server pulled into water after dine and dash
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“When I hit the water, they decided to start laughing and cheering, which really hurt,” she told KY3.
“I was crying and bawling in the water and I didn’t know what to do.”
She said she eventually dragged herself up onto a swimming platform on a docked boat after around 10 minutes struggling in the moonlit lake.
The Camden County Sheriff’s Office has now launched an investigation into the cruel assault and is currently seeking more information on the perpetrators, who are understood to be from out of state.
Meanwhile, Fish and Company General Manager Sean Dolven said he has introduced some guidelines to help keep his employees safe in future.
“If you’re going to chase somebody down, let somebody know and take somebody with you,” Dolven said he'd agreed with staff.
“That way there’s somebody there that can see what’s going on because sometimes the cameras don’t catch everything.”
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