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Man Arrested After 'Altercation' At Uptown Pizza Shop

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- One man was arrested after a video of a "violent altercation" at an Uptown pizza shop surfaced Friday night.

Pittsburgh Police announced that 41-year-old Mahmut Yilmaz, of Pittsburgh, turned himself in to police officers Saturday night. He is facing one simple assault charge and one aggravated assault charge.

A video posted to Facebook on Friday night shows Yilmaz, who works at Pizza Milano, and a woman getting into a physical struggle inside the restaurant. At one point, Yilmaz headbutts the woman and pins her to the floor. The video was posted around 9:15 pm. Friday and had about 441,000 views by Saturday night.

pizza-milano-fight-video
(Photo Credit: Facebook)

According to Pittsburgh Police, the woman went to the hospital hours after the incident took place.

Mayor Bill Peduto released the following statement Saturday night:

"This morning I was made aware of the deeply disturbing video from Milano's Pizza. I have worked through the day with Pittsburgh Police leadership and charges have now been quickly brought. I want to thank the community for their assistance in the investigation, and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police for their hard work throughout the day. It is my sincere hope that these charges are another step in sending a very clear signal that Pittsburgh will not tolerate violence against women and that we will work as a community to protect all women, and notably African American women, from physical and emotional violence."

A crowd of protesters gathered outside the restaurant on Fifth Avenue on Saturday afternoon. People who were outraged by the video are leading a boycott of the business on social media, and they say the woman's race may have played a part in the attack.

pizza-milano-protest
(Photo Credit: KDKA Photojournalist Tim Lawson)

"We are in full boycott mode. The message here is this, it's very simple: if you cannot respect our black lives in your business, then you can no longer have a business in this community," protest organizer Nicky Jo Dawson said.

KDKA has reached out to Pizza Milano for a comment, but has not yet received a response.

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