By Jeff Moss and Brian Buddie
DetroitSportsRag@Gmail.com
July 17. 2013
Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, I am in receipt of the Police Report from the Fraser PD documenting the physical confrontation between the “real” owner of Foster’s Smokehouse (Ryan Thierry) and a contractor the restaurant hired to mount the HDTV sets (Jeremy Morton.)
As you will see, the Fraser police have closed this matter without bringing charges against either party
When reviewing the report keep a few things in mind:
1) Thierry informed the police that “Morton only completed half the job but wanted the full amount of money because Morton was leaving town.” We know this assertion by Thierry is false based on the text message exchange between Thierry and Morton that the DSR has obtained.
Those messages support Morton’s position that he had completed the original order (with little assistance due to the restaurant management’s incompetence) and Thierry was interested in further work to be completed that wasn’t part of the original deal. Specifically the projectors. How could the projectors have been part of the original deal if Thierry had to ask Morton if he could install them?
2) After Morton called the police because he allegedly was choked by the owner of the bar, Thierry allegedly concocted this story that Morton had initiated contact by “chest-bumping” him.
I have no clue if this is accurate or not, but Morton would have to be literally insane to start a fight with Thierry. Morton is 5’11 and 155 pounds. I have seen Thierry. The guy should NOT be going into the restaurant business with Terry Foster, he should be entered in a Texas Tornado match at SummerSlam with Ryback and Mark Henry. The dude has to be 350 pounds. And …. that might be a conservative estimate.
Which one of these is unlike the other?
It’s possible that Morton initiated the physical contact. I haven’t seen the guy’s competency exam, but it seems extremely unlikely unless Morton is suicidal.
3) The witness who corroborated Thierry’s story? One of Thierry’s boys who was hanging out at the bar according to Morton. Unfortunately, Morton didn’t take his wife or mother to get the $678 he was owed by Foster’s Smokehouse or he might have a witness as well.
4) The report states that Morton was not interested in filing criminal charges. According to Morton’s version of events, he advised the police that he wanted to file charges against Thierry but was told that because this was a “he said/land monster said” incident that if Morton decided to pursue this matter that he would be arrested also, and that the court system would determine culpability.
Because Morton is the father of a young infant, he didn’t really want to take the chance of getting arrested for allegedly getting choked out by a guy twice his size.
So whom do you trust? Based on the evidence I am privy to, I gotta go with Morton.
Or you can believe the word of a restaurant proprietor who allowed the following to occur under his watch:
A) Posted a positive Yelp! review about his OWN establishment and was too freaking lazy to make up an alias!!!!!
Ryan T? Are you fucking kidding me?
B) Ryan T. and Foster decided to open a restaurant weeks before it was ready. They are still calling this a “Soft Opening.” Those usually last two or three days in the food services business. We are now going on the fourth week!!!! Are the food and beverage prices discounted during this “Soft Opening?” No. Has a “Grand Opening” date been announced? No. Instead, the clientele are being treated like freaking guinea pigs.
C) These morons opened a restaurant before they had a website or a working phone line. Three weeks went by before these clueless wonders could get a TELEPHONE to work. In the year 2013.
Foster’s Smokehouse takes another big step — finally — We have a number to place carry out orders. 586-296-6800. YIPPEE
— Terry Foster (@TerryFoster971) July 16, 2013
D) The place opened with Foster bragging that families were welcome. Yet, they didn’t even have highchairs.
@TerryFoster971 can u get a couple highchairs , went last week and had to sit my little girl on my lap?? Food was great though , def be back
— Nicholas Smith (@nickwsmith2) July 16, 2013
@nickwsmith2 I told them they need high chairs. I am writing a long email and will include it again — Terry Foster (@TerryFoster971) July 16, 2013
E) They constantly have been running out of food. Even though from all reports they haven’t even been busy. Including what should have been the busiest weekend of the year for them when Fraser had a street fair a block away.
@TerryFoster971 my mother and I went there Sunday and you guys were out of ribs, brisket, and burnt ends..inexcusable — A. Burton (@Ad_Burt) July 16, 2013
@Ad_Burt I apologize for that. We are still in a soft opening and trying to figure out what sells. we will get it right by our grand opening
— Terry Foster (@TerryFoster971) July 16, 2013
I mean, how do you run out of RIBS at a SMOKEHOUSE? Remember that time the Colonel ran out of fried chicken?
@TerryFoster971 5:30 on a Saturday and no burnt ends or brisket? This isn’t starting out well. #sadface
— dotmom12and13 (@osumarchingmom) July 13, 2013
@osumarchingmom I am checking into this. They are still trying to figure out what is selling. Maybe we had a run on it. checking it out — Terry Foster (@TerryFoster971) July 13, 2013
F) They haven’t gotten around to advising the Yellow Pages they are open. Of course, the Yellow Pages probably just assumed a joint without a phone was closed. Silly them.
G) Foster has resorted to being deceptive about the question of whether or not the Fraser location has an actual SMOKER in the SMOKEHOUSE. This is what he posted on his Facebook page on July 13th:
Yet, this is what he told a follower of his on Twitter just yesterday…..
@dominicisblue It does have a smoker. We have a 500 pound smoker.
— Terry Foster (@TerryFoster971) July 16, 2013
The Fraser location (the only one that is currently open, mind you) doesn’t have a smoker which means they are smoking the food offsite and I would presume, reheating it. Maybe …… just maybe ….. the place has a smoker on Twitter, but not on Facebook. What the fuck, man?
H) And just keep in mind that all of these issues are occurring at a restaurant with Foster’s name on it. The same Terry Foster that wrote the following on his blog back in September of 2011.
If I get bad service or bad food I place a restaurant on my banned list. I never go there again.
Hogans in Birmingham is on my banned list because they served me chicken with gravy and said it was chicken marsala and would only give me a second entree if I paid for it. Jim Brady’s on Southfield is on my banned list because I ordered a steak medium well and it came medium rare. I asked for it to be cooked more and they stuck it in the microwave.
Banned.
So, basically Foster should ban himself from the restaurant with his name on it. Unless he is the biggest hypocrite, self-promoting, opportunist on the planet. Oh, right.
Or maybe Foster doesn’t know about the bad service.
@TerryFoster971 just got back from FSH. Killer bbq my man. Service needs massive improvement. A few tables up and left cuz of poor service.
— J T (@Tuz001) June 27, 2013
Foster actually Re-Tweeted that post. The one where the guy said that people were LEAVING his supposed joint because of POOR SERVICE. Oy gevalt.
Anyway, I have contacted other establishments that have used Jeremy Morton for their AV hookup and no chokeholds were applied in those bars so I am going to side with Morton on this one.
The saga continues ……