Man gets attacked by panhandlers at donut shop

HOUSTON -- Mike Markiewicz had one heck of a start to the week.

"It was just so absurd I didn't even know how to react. It was a circus," he said.

And it all played out on Monday morning at the Shipley's doughnut shop on Gessner and Westheimer, where he was going to get some donuts and apple fritters.

But a $1.39 trip ended up costing him $300 because of two men who approached Markiewicz and his business partner asking for money. Both of them said no. That apparently set the panhandlers off, Markiewicz said.

"He said, 'Is that your car?' And then he got on the hood of my car," Markiewicz said.

One of the men began posing on the hood of the car, and Markiewicz snapped a picture. The man snapped, Markiewicz said.

The panhandler took out a knife and slashed Markiewicz's tire.

"I had no idea what to think, I just knew I had to get some kind of photo evidence. I didn't know if the guy had a gun or anything. I wasn't about to go after him," Markiewicz said.

While other customers started calling 911, Markiewicz told the panhandlers the police had been called.

"They picked up a bunch of rocks and started throwing them at us, and then he came out at me with a knife and he started running at me and I turned around to start to run a little bit away from him; then his friend picked up a brick and hit me in the back with it," Markiewicz said.

The men jumped in a truck and got away before police arrived. But Markiewicz got plenty of evidence, hoping the men who interrupted his morning apple fritter fix will be caught.

"Get them off the streets because if they end up hurting somebody, that's something that I think we definitely-- we must--- avoid," he said.