Teens Charged in Portofino Theft

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ)- After Portofino restaurant in downtown Lexington accused some teenagers of stealing, while those teenagers accused the restaurant’s manager of assault and using racial slurs, the police have finally reached a conclusion on what really happened.

It all started back on Saturday, November 5th when police say a group of teenagers walked in to Portofino restaurant and walked out with a jacket.

Police say a group of six teenagers went into Portofino restaurant to charge their phones and use the restrooms.

Some workers suspected them of stealing a jacket, confronted them and that’s when police say the incident took a turn.

“That really hurt our feelings that he had to do this, that all this had to happen just because we were black and they assumed that we stole a jacket. That’s wrong and it shouldn’t have went that way,” said Queen Gates, one of the accused teens, back on Nov. 7th.

The group of black teens denied taking any jacket and accused the restaurant’s white manager of assaulting them and using racial slurs.

“I said why are you doing this to us and he was like, I’m doing this because you’re black, I’m doing this because you’re black. He told me I was not a girl, I was a black B-I-T-C-H,” said Crystal Flowers, one of the accused teens, back on Nov. 7th.

The manager denied the allegations and said instead he was the one who was assaulted.

The racially-charged incident soon caught the attention of the community resulting in a rally outside the restaurant in support of the teens.

But now after more than a month of investigation police say the teens did in fact try to steal a jacket and that there was no evidence the restaurant manager assaulted them or used racial slurs.

“The truth has now been established that he acted appropriately with respect to this incident and that now charges are being leveled against him,” said Richard Getty, the restaurant manager’s lawyer.

Police say one of the teenage girls is being charged with a felony and two other teens are being charged with misdemeanor theft.

In addition, police say one of the teens involved in the incident did recant their initial story of what happened that night, although investigators won’t identify which one.

Two of the teens involved did file a civil suit against the manager of Portofino.

ABC 36 News reached out to their lawyer for comment and have yet to get a response.