NEW YORK (AP) — A man has been arrested on charges of killing a New York City restaurant delivery worker after the owner reported a spate of harassment that began with a complaint about a condiment.
Glenn Hirsch, 51, was awaiting arraignment on June 2 after being arrested on murder and weapons charges in the death of Zhiwen Yan.
Zhiwen Yan, restaurant delivery worker
“Zhiwen Yan was a beloved member of his Queens community whose tragic murder in April was heartbreaking,” Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell tweeted.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Hirsch had an attorney who can comment on the charges. A person who answered the phone at his Queens home declined to comment and hung up.
Yan was gunned down on a Queens street April 30, while riding a scooter to make a delivery. The 45-year-old had worked for more than a decade for Great Wall, a Chinese restaurant.
Owner Kai Yang told reporters at the time that he’d had trouble with a customer since November, when the patron unsuccessfully demanded a refund because he said he didn’t get enough duck sauce with an order — although the sweet-and-sour condiment was free and self-serve.
Yang said he told police in January that the patron had slashed his tires and pulled a gun on him.
Another restaurant worker, Sooi Chung, told the New York Post that the customer would sometimes wait outside the restaurant and tell Yang and employees, “‘I remember you. I remember you.’”
Yan, a married father of three, was hardworking and friendly to everyone, neighbors and relatives said.