Patrons flee Maggiano’s in Costa Mesa as 2 women smash the restaurant with a bat

Lunch patrons got a scare at Maggiano’s Little Italy in Costa Mesa Saturday after two women rushed into the restaurant and started smashing it with a bat.

Police were called to the restaurant in the 3300 block of Bristol Street about 1:30 p.m. after the women showed up and began wrecking it.

The woman were described as swinging wildly. Glass shattered. Patrons fled.

Robert Christiansen, 58, of Lake Forest was having lunch with his wife, Kim, when they heard the sound of crashing in the bar area near the front entrance, he said. The restaurant was packed.

“We thought immediately that something had collapsed in the bar because they stack (the shelves) with bottles and they have mirrors behind them,” Christiansen said.

But when it happened again and again, they knew something was wrong.

Christiansen looked over and saw the two women, each swinging a baseball bat in the bar. The women had the hoods of their sweatshirts pulled tight in an effort to conceal their faces, but Christiansen said the tactic didn’t work well.

He told his wife they needed to get out.

“Panic hit the place,” he said. “Personally, this was one step from them having a gun and going off in the place. This person was completely unhinged, just lost it.”

At one point they heard one of the women scream, “I’m not good enough? Take that,” Christiansen said.

The women weren’t through after smashing the bar. They then turned their attention to glass barriers, computer systems and tables, Christiansen said.

“There was glass everywhere,” he said.

A small fire started in the bar, though it wasn’t known if it was intentionally set or a by-product of the destruction. Staff members immediately put it out, Christiansen said.

Families got up from their tables and bolted toward the exits. Maggiano’s staff members ushered people to safety and checked on them once outside, he said.

“They were amazing, they took care of everybody and got them outside quickly,” he said.

Eventually, the two women fled on foot across the parking lot but were arrested when police caught up with them in the women’s vehicle, said Roxi Fyad, spokeswoman for the Costa Mesa Police Department.

The women’s identities, ages and connection to the restaurant were not immediately available, Fyad said.

But, Christiansen said, “The whole staff knew who they were.

“This was bad,” he said. “Lots of people were so scared. To see them that scared was terrifying.”