Police: Woman who threw soup in face of Texas restaurant employee facing criminal charges

TEMPLE, Texas — Police in Texas said criminal charges are pending against a woman who threw soup in the face of an employee on Sunday.

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Video from the Sol De Jalisco restaurant in Temple went viral on social media, KCEN-TV reported. The incident occurred at about 1:30 p.m. CST, the television station reported.

Police said the woman, who has not been identified, called the restaurant to complain about the soup she ordered, according to KCEN. The woman spoke with Jannelle Broland, who later posted two videos on TikTok and claimed the woman was cursing at her over the phone and when she returned to the restaurant.

When the woman came to the restaurant, she can be seen in the video arguing with Broland, who was standing behind the counter by a cash register, the television station reported. According to police, the woman complained that the soup was so hot that it melted the plastic lid.

In the TikTok videos, Broland said she offered to give the customer a refund, but the woman continued to curse and argue with the employee.

According to the video, the customer throws the container of soup in Broland’s face and leaves, KCEN reported.

“My first thought was what just happened, why, like why is this happening and I realized I couldn’t open my eyes and I wiped away and I realized I was like, ‘Wow, she she really just she threw that at me,’” Broland told the television station. “She really threw that right at me.”

“We do not condone this type of behavior and hold our citizens to the highest standard,” Temple Police Deputy Chief Allen Teston told KCEN. “If a citizen believes they have received poor service we advise them to remain civil until the problem is resolved.”

The woman has been banned from the restaurant.

KCEN attempted to contact the customer for comment but said her social media pages appeared to be shut down.

Broland said that while the soup was not as hot as the customer originally said, her eyes were burning from the liquid’s spicy ingredients.

“The spices from it are what hit me the most,” Broland told KCEN. “I remember feeling the warmth of the soup, but my eyes burned so bad. My nose was burning. It kind of took my breath away for a second because just the burning. I was really in shock from it all.”

Broland has been in the restaurant-serving industry for six years and she says this isn’t the first time she’s been disrespected. She is hoping that the video serves as a wake-up call for customers.

“I hope this brings a lot of attention to the way that not just servers in my area, but servers everywhere are treated and short-staffed or not,” Broland told KCEN. “We don’t just put on an apron and a name tag and we’re just robots -- we are still human beings with emotions the same way. The same way (as) our guests, our people, their children.

“I would hope that they would go somewhere and treat everybody with the same kindness and respect they would treat their own family.”

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