Manager of North End pizzeria punched by man who refused to wear mask, officials say

The general manager of the Regina Pizzeria in Boston’s North End was assaulted by a man who refused to wear a mask inside the restaurant Sunday night, officials said.

A company spokesman confirmed that the general manager was the victim.

According to a Boston police report, an officer was dispatched to the pizzeria on Thacher Street and spoke to the victim, who said that at 8:55 p.m. the man tried to enter the restaurant without a mask.

When told he needed to wear a mask inside the restaurant, the suspect stated he was “from the neighborhood” and pushed his way in and then pushed the victim against the register and punched his left cheek, the report said. The suspect then fled down Margin Street, police wrote in the report.

The suspect was described in the report as being a white male between 25 and 28 years of age, according to police.

Stuart Thompson, a spokesman for Regina Pizzeria, said it was a brief encounter that was well documented in the police report.

“It all happened very quickly,” Thompson said in a phone interview.

As of Wednesday afternoon no arrests had been made, and it was “still an ongoing investigation,” said Officer Andre Watson, a spokesman for the Boston Police Department.