A view on Thursday of the outside of the Tropical Smoothie Cafe, which is located in the shopping center next to Walmart off West Michigan Street. Former coworkers of an assault victim are speaking out to bring awareness of the incident, which led to the group quitting in May. They coworkers said the environment was inappropriate before an assault took place on May 23, a little more than two weeks after the business opened.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
SIDNEY — The former coworkers of a victim of an assault are speaking out about an incident, which occurred at Tropical Smoothie Cafe in late May, a few weeks after the restaurant opened.
The coworkers are speaking out a week after Tropical Smoothie Cafe held a ribbon cutting and grand opening celebration at its location on West Michigan Street. The coworkers, who also spoke to Sidney police the day the assault occurred, say they witnessed and were subject to inappropriate behavior and want their story brought to the public’s attention.
One of the owners of the Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchise, Ravikumar Patel, has been charged with sexual imposition and unlawful restraint, both third-degree misdemeanors. He was arraigned in mid-June and had a pretrial hearing in early July; attorneys representing him filed a demand for jury trial in early July.
Patel, who was known to workers as “Big Rocky,” lives in Lexington, Kentucky. He is one member of a family that owns several Tropical Smoothie Cafe locations.
On May 23, the 16-year-old victim, who we are not identifying, entered the bathroom by herself. According to a Sidney police report, surveillance footage shows “Big Rocky” standing outside the door shortly after she entered. The video then shows him entering the bathroom with the victim still inside.
There is no footage of what occurred in the bathroom, but the victim’s statement to police said that Patel blocked her from the door and attempted to hug her. He pulled hair behind her ear. The victim was uncomfortable and scared, so she reached for the door and Patel took her hand, trying to make conversation about her nails.
He asked the victim if she wanted to stay in the bathroom while he peed. She, again, tried to go to the door and this time, he smacked her butt as she left.
Patel told police that he went into the bathroom at the same time as the victim to check on a mess a customer left, but he denied acting or touching her inappropriately.
After the incident occurred, the employees who were working notified the staff that was off-the-clock of what happened and let them know that the employees present were all quitting. Most, if not all, of the employees on staff at that time quit that day.
Former employee Rebecca Lopez, who was on the clock when the incident occurred, said that she could immediately tell her coworker was not well after exiting the bathroom, displaying characteristics that were out of the ordinary.
“I wholeheartedly believe her, because she wasn’t acting normal and was, psychologically speaking, the way she was acting, she was afraid,” Lopez said. “She grabbed my arm, and she was kind of shaking. I tried to tell her to sit down at some point because she was shaking.”
The coworkers said inappropriate behavior was displayed by other members of the Patel family who work at the location. The victim described similar behavior to police and said Patel had been overly friendly to her, including purchasing ice cream from another Sidney business for only her after mentioning it was a favorite of hers.
Lopez said management offered to buy alcohol for the underage employees and mentioned the behavior she witnessed from Patel around the time of the incident was inappropriate.
“(It was) just too thought out and very calculated… that rubs me very wrong,” Lopez said. “I think there’s definitely a chance that he’s done something like this before.”
Another former employee, who we will not identify because she is under the age of 18, corroborated Lopez’s account and said her experiences with Tropical Smoothie’s management were similar.
Not only did she reiterate the inappropriate behavior between the management and young female employees, but she also mentioned the lack of professionalism during the hiring process. She was hired almost immediately after applying, and the only paperwork presented to her was a single tax form.
She said this felt odd to her but understood the opening of a new business may have rushed the process. In hindsight, it felt more strange.
She said that the management team also asked personal questions to the young employees, including about their love lives. Only a few employees were above the age of 18. The entire staff during the franchise’s opening were girls, outside the management team.
The underage coworker said Patel owns a location close to the University of Kentucky and claimed to her that female students at the university ask him to buy them alcohol.
“He’s like, ‘these girls come over to buy alcohol, and if they give me a good service, I will give it to them,’” the coworker said.
Lopez stated that she shared this information on her social media to deter people from giving this location any business.
“It’s very interesting trying to get the word around, because I’ve posted on my stories a few times, and sometimes people repost, and sometimes they won’t. But I try my best to avoid,” Lopez said.
There was much discussion around the assault on several social media platforms in May. After the restaurant held a grand opening celebration last week, including a ribbon cutting on Friday, the discussion was renewed.
After seeing coverage of the event, the coworkers and one of their mother’s reached out to the Sidney Daily News about the incident.
They say they’re displeased some local elected officials attended the ribbon cutting and said they tried contacting some after the incident occurred in May.
While the coworkers said they’re pleased Patel has been charged, they do not want the public to give business to Tropical Smoothie under its current ownership.
Rebecca Lopez’ mother, Ashley, has been outspoken on this topic.
“I would like people to not bring their business there, and for them to have to shut down,” Ashley said, “… The story that the girl gave, it wasn’t embellished. It wasn’t over the top. Like if you know there were fabrications, it would have been much more over the top… And the way (Patel) was acting… saying he wasn’t guilty before the police even got there.”
Assault, especially on young people can have permanent effects on their mental health.
According to McLean Hospital, “Children who experience abuse may develop mental health concerns, such as anxiety, depression, and PTSD. They are more likely than their peers to engage in risky behaviors and experience a range of stressors, including early pregnancy and suicide attempts.”
This is not a crime without repercussions for the victim. The employees affected by the actions of their management team are now burdened with experiences that span onto their life moving forward.
The underage coworker discussed a similar experience at a previous job and the difficulties that came with that, including the case being dismissed due to lack of proof.
The coworkers and some of their parents have tried contacting Tropical Smoothie Cafe’s corporate office about the incident in May but have not received a reply.
The underage coworker said some renewed their attempt to contact corporate after last week’s grand opening.
“That article came out, so many people were commenting,” the underage coworker said. “I called corporate …but like, corporate ignored us back in May. …My dad had contacted corporate. Other parents contact the corporate, and corporate was just quiet.”
The Sidney Daily News has contacted the company’s corporate office but as of deadline on Friday had yet to hear a response.
A similar incident occurred at a Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchise location in Texas in 2021.
Patel has a second pretrial hearing scheduled for Aug. 26.
Sidney Daily News editor Bryant Billing contributed to this report. Billing can be reached at [email protected].
