A man who allegedly choked a Burger King employee in New Jersey last month was told to leave the restaurant earlier in the day because he wasn't wearing a mask, police said.
The Wayne Police Department on Monday said David Siversten has been charged with aggravated assault after he was accused of choking a woman who worked at the fast-food chain on Route 23 South on March 27.
Another employee had to come to her rescue and they told responding police officers that the suspect had fled on foot. A patrol officer later found Siversten, who matched the worker's description of the man who attacked her, sitting in a driveway on the Newark-Pompton Turnpike.
When the cops approached him, Siversten told them: "You got me." Police say he appeared to be drunk and "agitated."
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The Burger King employee later identified Siversten as the man who assaulted her and he was placed under arrest.
Investigators later discovered that Siversten was the same man who had visited the restaurant earlier in the day and argued with employees who told him he needed to wear a mask. Police were called but he had left the restaurant prior to their arrival.
During his arrest, police said, Siversten "became uncooperative during processing and injured himself by intentionally slamming his head into the steel bench to which he was handcuffed."
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He was transported to the hospital and later cleared to be taken to Passaic County Jail. It's unclear if Siversten has an attorney who can respond to the allegations.
