Mantua coffee thrower: ‘Biggest mistake of my life’

DAVID TIMBERS, the hotheaded patron who tossed a cup of coffee in the face of a doughnut-shop employee two weeks ago, calmed down enough Wednesday to waive his right to a preliminary hearing at the Criminal Justice Center and later apologized to the victim.

"What happened was, I made the biggest mistake of my life and I'm truly sorry for the physical pain that I caused the victim as well as emotional pain, and I just wish it never happened, but it did," Timbers told reporters outside the courthouse. "And I'm truly, truly sorry to the victim."

Following the brief court appearance of Timbers, 52, Municipal Judge Karen Y. Simmons held him for trial on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, possession of an instrument of crime and recklessly endangering another person.

She set his formal arraignment for June 20. Timber remains free on $25,000 bail.

Timbers' actions at Fresh Donuts, on Lancaster Avenue near 39th Street, in Mantua, over whether or not he'd paid enough money for a sandwich he ordered, made national news. The store's video shows Timbers putting a few bills on the counter then arguing with the female employee.

When the employee hands him a cup of coffee, he takes it and tosses it on her. She screams. He walks out, cursing at a male customer as he leaves. The woman was burned and needed medical treatment.

After leaving court Wednesday, Timbers, speaking to reporters, asked the victim to "find it in her heart to forgive me, not to forget, just to forgive because what I've done is unforgivable. I'd just like to say that I'm truly sorry and I made a mistake."