Former Shop Manager Found Not Guilty In Pizza Milano Attack
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A former pizza shop manager accused of attacking a woman in the restaurant has been found not guilty.
According to the Allegheny County District Attorney, Mahmut Yilmaz was found not guilty of simple assault and aggravated assault Wednesday afternoon.
Yilmaz was charged after cell phone video showed him attempting to throw Jade Martin out of the Uptown Pizza Milano.
Yilmaz can be seen in the video head-butting Martin, slamming her to the floor and repeatedly banging her head.
A jury in the courtroom of Judge Alex Bicket has found pizza shop manager Mahmut Yilmaz not guilty of both charges he was facing, simple assault and aggravated assault.
— AlleghenyCountyDA (@AlleghenyCoDA) August 15, 2018
Martin went into the restaurant to use the restroom after having drinks at a bar when the confrontation began. Yilmaz said Martin was being loud and disruptive and was asked to leave, but she refused.
Both Yilmaz and Martin were charged following the incident.
Martin had been charged with disorderly conduct and defiant trespass, charges that were dismissed in March.
Despite Wednesday's not guilty verdict, Martin still has a civil lawsuit pending against Yilmaz and the pizza shop's parent company.
"She woke up and had a lot of symptoms, pain, headaches, neck issues," attorney Ken Haber said.
She's seeking $35,000 in compensatory damage, and $5 million in punitive damages.
Yilmaz's attorney played another video in court that he said showed his client, for four minutes, asking Martin to leave. He said Yilmaz was saying, "Please, please leave," but he said Martin was drunk and belligerent.
Yilmaz has since been fired from Pizza Milano and remains unemployed.