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Reticulated python (symbolic image): The animal is otherwise rarely seen in pizzerias
Photo: Gaby Oraa / REUTERS
The staff of a pizzeria in the northern Italian community of Casnate con Bernate will probably remember this incident for a long time: a man enters the restaurant with a python around his neck and demands something to drink. The innkeeper sends him away, but the man soon returns - this time with a weapon in his hand.
The 48-year-old showed up at the restaurant on Friday evening, the police announced on Saturday. He also had two large dogs on leashes with him: barking and growling Rottweilers, as the Italian news portal “Il Giorno” writes.
When the man showed up for the second time, he is said to have threatened the waitress with a pistol, according to the media report. "I'll shoot you in the face," the apparently drunk man said.
According to the police, one guest managed to chase him away. Investigators later confiscated the weapon at his home: a very real-looking toy gun. Nevertheless, he ended up with a criminal complaint. After all: According to the information, he legally owned the large python.
jus/dpa