SLC Restauranteur Sprays Smoker with Extinguisher, Quits

I'm a vegetarian always on the hunt for plant-based restaurants to check out. So if I make the few hour drive to Salt Lake, I could end up at this very restaurant.

A Salt Lake City restaurant owner sprayed a smoker in the face with a fire extinguisher Friday night--and now that restaurateur is out of a job.

Alex Jamison, who owned three vegan eateries in the city, claims he asked Jon Bird several times to move to a designated smoking section outside of one of his businesses before being prompted into spraying him with the extinguisher.

The smoker, who had been volunteering for an event nearby, says he checked with a building security guard about smoking in the area and was given a green light. He went to the hospital after the incident and says he's still experiencing shortness of breath and headaches. He's since hired a lawyer, while Jamison declared Monday on Facebook that he was walking away from his businesses.

"Hello, I’m Alex Jamison. AKA Mr. Extinguisher. AKA biggest a**hole on the planet. Look at me. Judge me," Jamison wrote. "Yesterday I was a restauranteur; today I am free. Effective today I am no longer an owner of the three vegan businesses I co-founded. This is my rebirth."

He's clearly realizing that maybe spraying dude in the face with a fire extinguisher was not the best choice, and he's got to be worried about being sued out of everything he owns. Maybe that's why he's claiming to not be the owner, to save his businesses? Who knows, but dang.

I will say though, as a non-smoker who hates the presence of smoke, I get irritated when people light up in public as well. I'm not going after anyone with an extinguisher, though.