Kitchen Brawl

It’s kind of like a scene from a Jackie Chan movie…except this fight happened at a Thai Restaurant*
On August 6, Noy arrived at the restaurant shortly before 10:00 a.m. Wisan, who was already there, unlocked the door for Noy and smiled. The two men had no conversation, and the restaurant had not yet opened for business. About five minutes later, as Noy was bending down and pulling vegetables to place on the table, Noy felt a knife plunge into his back. A struggle ensued between Noy and Wisan, and a kitchen employee ran to the police station down the block and reported the stabbing. Respondent Officer Tadao Yamaguchi and Sergeant Charlie Orkes, both in uniform, ran to the restaurant. Arriving first, Yamaguchi became the contact officer, with primary responsibility to control the situation and issue orders.
The officers were directed to the kitchen, an area where there are “numerous items that can be used as a deadly weapon.” Yamaguchi announced, “Police.” Entering the kitchen, he witnessed two men wrestling on the ground, one on top of the other, covered in blood. With his firearm drawn, Yamaguchi ordered the men to “[s]top” and “[s]tand up.” Wisan, on top, complied. There was no weapon in Wisan’s hands, but blood flowed down his face from a cut across his forehead. At Yamaguchi’s command, Wisan backed up a couple of steps. In a slightly crouched position, Yamaguchi gestured to Noy and instructed him verbally to come towards him.
Noy, covered with blood and appearing weak and incoherent, started crawling towards the officer. Wisan meanwhile picked up a metal pot from the stove. Yamaguchi and Sergeant Orkes, as well as Sergeant Antonio Flores who had joined them, each ordered Wisan to drop the pot, but he did not comply. Instead, he scooped the pot into the deep fryer, filled it with hot oil, and threw the hot oil in the direction of Noy and Yamaguchi, who were by then about a foot apart. Both Noy and Yamaguchi were hit with the oil. Wisan immediately scooped up a second pot of hot oil and threw it in the direction of Noy, Yamaguchi, and Orkes. Noy and Yamaguchi were again hit with the oil. Sergeant Flores ordered Wisan to drop the pot, and he complied.
Approximately 30 seconds had elapsed between the officers’ arrival and the time Wisan threw the hot oil. Orkes described the events as “a continuing type of on-going events from one step to the next step. A continuing flow.” Yamaguchi sustained severe burns to his face, neck, torso, and arms, and damage to his ears.
* Yamaguchi v. Harnsmut, 106 Cal. App. 4th 472 (Cal. App. 1st Dist. 2003) the restaurant is “Lalita: Exotic Thai Cuisine & Bar” in San Francisco.