Video taking off 17x its usual first day

Man in Northridge Wendy's confrontation says knife was for self-defense

NBCLA's report pairs cellphone footage with an interview and police's account of an arrest on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

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NBCLA Story of October 30, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 79,804 views a day, 17 times a normal first day on this channel (4,768).

Man seen in video of confrontation inside Wendy's restaurant in Northridge speaks out

Chairs fly across a Northridge Wendy's before a man draws a knife. NBCLA reporter Robert Kovacik's report goes beyond the cellphone footage to hear from the man holding it.

"I didn't do anything wrong. I don't belong in prison," he says in the interview. He describes drawing the knife as self-defense. The footage shown in the report captures another man repeatedly challenging him, then throwing chairs before the knife appears.

The Short drew roughly 76,000 views in 21 hours, far beyond NBCLA's usual first-day audience for that format. Its comment section was also much busier than usual, with viewers debating self-defense and the decision to make an arrest. Those responses are not a legal finding about what happened.

Kovacik reports that LAPD arrested the interviewee on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. The other man received treatment for minor injuries, including a laceration. The man interviewed says he brandished the knife but did not use it, and has hired an attorney.

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