Authorities are investigating a dine-and-dash attack during which they say a waitress was pushed into the Lake of the Ozarks by patrons who abandoned their bill.
The female server at Fish & Co. restaurant in Camdenton, Missouri, was “pulled into the lake” after a group she was serving left without paying its bar tab Friday, the Camden County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Security video obtained by NBC affiliate KYTV of Springfield shows the group of patrons leaving the restaurant and walking down a dock to a boat. The server runs after them. The camera doesn’t catch the alleged confrontation; a boat is seen leaving the dock soon after.
The sheriff’s office is investigating the incident as an assault.
The waitress, Liahna Bertels, told KYTV that she ran after the group to have them pay their bill. The patrons grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the water before they took off, she said.
“I hit the water, they decided to start laughing and cheering which really hurt,” Bertels said. “And I was just, like, crying and bawling in the water, and I didn’t know what to do.”
Ultimately, she pulled herself onto a swim platform on a docked boat after about 10 minutes.
Bertels said that the group included a young woman who ordered a drink but that she didn’t serve her because she didn’t have an ID. The group then got angry and ordered food about half an hour later. However, they got angry because there was a long wait for the food, and they decided to leave.
The restaurant said the bill was about $150, KYTV reported.
Authorities shared a photograph of two people whom they were seeking to speak with to “get their version of events.”
“The Lake of the Ozarks is a tight knit community of people who care about each other. Together we can identify these people and help keep everyone safe,” the sheriff's office said.
In an update Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said a man in the photo had contacted authorities and is cooperating with the investigation, noting that he is “not a suspect in the case.”
The investigation continues.
The restaurant didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.