Chaos erupted at a Five Guys in Midtown Manhattan early Thursday when a group of young men stormed the restaurant and attacked an employee, according to police and video posted on social media.
The incident happened around 3 a.m. at the location on West 42nd Street near Seventh Avenue, shortly after Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Authorities said the group, which appeared to include at least one person wearing blue-and-orange Knicks gear, assaulted a 24-year-old worker and left him bloodied behind the counter.
Footage circulating online shows roughly a dozen men hurling stools and chairs at the employee as he tried to shield himself. In the video, several members of the group can be seen climbing over the counter and continuing the attack.
As the confrontation escalated, the worker appeared to grab French fries from the fryer and throw them toward the attackers in an apparent effort to defend himself. The clips also captured the growing panic inside the restaurant as the violence intensified.
“Ohh, they’re killing him, oh!” one witness can be heard shouting, while a bearded man in a white tank top repeatedly shoved more furniture toward the employee. At one point, the worker was knocked to the floor and pinned in a corner beneath a heap of chairs.
By the time the group fled, the employee appeared visibly injured and was missing a shoe. The mob ran out of the restaurant after someone yelled, “Abort, abort, abort.”
The man sustained a laceration to his right arm in the assault, police said.
Clips circulating from inside the restaurant alleged the beatdown was because the Five Guys employee was a San Antonio Spurs fan, though he did not appear to be wearing the team’s paraphernalia.
One of the attackers was wearing a Knicks T-shirt and a man inside the eatery had on a Knicks hat — though it’s unclear if he was involved in the beatdown.
The streets surrounding Madison Square Garden descended into chaos after Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night.
Dozens of people were arrested in the mayhem that erupted across Gotham, according to law enforcement, in which 10 members of the NYPD were injured, including one officer who was struck in the head with a glass bottle.
The NYPD said the havoc demonstrated the need for a stepped-up police presence ahead of the games.
No arrests have been made in the fast food chain assault, police said. Five Guys did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
An investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
