An ice cream salesman spent a night in jail after a meltdown resulting from the heat of competition.
Nazzareno Didiano, 46, was released Thursday from the Allegheny County Jail after police accused him of slashing the tires of a competitor's ice cream truck in Mellon Park in Shadyside.
Police said Kathleen Murphy was dishing cones July 1 in the parking lot when Didiano pulled up in his truck, started screaming at her and told her she was taking business away from him.
He then retrieved a long knife, and told Murphy, "You're cutting my throat. I'm cutting your throat and your (expletive) tires," according to a police affidavit.
Didiano, whose address was not listed on the police report, then sliced Murphy's right front tire, police said.
A witness, Keisha McBroom, tried to block Didiano's truck from leaving but he was able to go around her, police said. Murphy wrote down Didiano's license plate.
Didiano, who could not be reached for comment, is charged with simple assault, criminal mischief and possession of crime instruments with criminal intent. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
It's not the first time Didiano has lost his cool in the ice cream business.
In 2005, Common Pleas Judge John A. Zottola served Didiano 18 months of probation for punching a Bloomfield teenager in the face because the boy cursed at Didiano over his ice cream prices.
During the trial, the teen said Didiano grabbed him by the arm, yanked him from his bike, punched him in the face and slammed him into a wall.
Zottola ordered Didiano to take anger management classes.
Didiano told the teen he didn't need any ice cream because he was fat.
The teen responded by calling Didiano a "bald (expletive) ripoff." Didiano later attacked when he found the boy sitting on a bike two blocks away.
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