The victim of an alleged crowbar attack in a Bloomfield restaurant parking lot is speaking out.
BLOOMFIELD -- What allegedly started as insults over a pro-Trump T-shirt escalated into a racially-charged verbal battle that ended in a physical attack, the alleged victim of the fight told media outlets Tuesday night.
According to multiple reports, Peter Yankowski admitted to getting into a verbal spat with the accused attacker before the man assaulted him with a crowbar in the parking lot of a Friendly's restaurant in Bloomfield last Wednesday night.
Yankowski told News 12 that while the fight started when the alleged attacker drove up to him and made a comment about his Donald Trump T-shirt, it turned into a shouting match that saw both of them trading insults and profanities at one another. Yankowski, who is white, and the alleged attacker, who police described as a young black male, also called each other racial slurs, the 62-year-old told News 12.
According to a PIX 11 report, a witness from the restaurant said both men were verbally aggressive. Yankowski told PIX that he regretted escalating the situation, but that "free speech" was not an excuse for the other man to turn violent.
Police said Tuesday that Yankowski was treated at the scene of the alleged attack last Wednesday for injuries he sustained during the altercation. Authorities said they are continuing to investigate searching for the alleged attacker.
Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.