Old City pizza shop owner provoked the man who went on to kill a kitchen worker, lawsuit says
Brian Adams' family says Jeff Bergman provoked Demier Klevitch-Gay, leading to a conflict in which Adams was struck, fell into a coma and later died.
Family members of a Market Street pizzeria worker who was killed in a 2024 altercation are accusing the restaurant’s owner of inflaming the situation and putting their loved one in harm’s way, according to a new lawsuit.
A person who was eating food from a different restaurant at one of Big Ass Slices Bar & Grill’s outside tables punched Brian Adams, 34, in the face several times after the pizza shop’s owner asked him to leave. Adams collapsed and died after spending 10 days in a coma.
Demier Klevitch-Gay, 30, was charged with third-degree murder and awaits trial, court records show.
Adams’ father, Robert Adams, and sister, Kylie Adams, filed the complaint Friday in Common Pleas Court. They accuse the pizza shop owner, Jeff Bergman, of provoking Klevitch-Gay and bringing Adams into the volatile situation. They also name the alleged assailant as a defendant.
“He brought the employee to act as a security guard without letting him know that the man outside was threatening to kill him,” said Alison Russell, a Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky attorney who represents Adams’ family members.
Bergman declined to comment.
The April 27, 2024, altercation began when Bergman returned from a trip to a food distributor and noticed Klevitch-Gay and another man in the outdoor seating area of Big Ass Slices with food from another establishment.
Bergman testified at Klevitch-Gay’s July 2024 preliminary hearing that he asked the two to leave politely, citing Philadelphia health code regulations, but that the situation quickly became aggressive. Bergman recounted that with every trip from the pizza spot to his car to bring in groceries, the language Klevitch-Gay used became more volatile.
“He was threatening me to beat me, beat me down, kill me, all kinds of threats,” Bergman said, according to a transcript accompanying the lawsuit.
» READ MORE: An Old City restaurant worker was killed in an altercation over a cheesesteak
When Bergman realized that the two were not leaving, he called Adams and another worker to help remove the outside table because “if there is no tables, there is no incident,” he said.
The lawsuit says Bergman did not tell Adams that Klevitch-Gay had made violent threats.
The incident turned physical after Bergman removed a chair from the man’s table, according to security footage from a nearby store previously reviewed by The Inquirer. Klevitch-Gay lunged toward Bergman, who removed another chair.
When Adams reached for the man’s table, Klevitch-Gay punched the kitchen worker several times. He also attempted to punch Bergman, who in return flipped the table over and retrieved a baseball bat from the restaurant.
Adams took a few steps toward the restaurant, collapsed, and seized.
At a January hearing, Victoria Sorokin, the assistant medical examiner who performed Adams’ autopsy, testified that the 34-year-old died of a ruptured brain aneurysm, a pouch of blood that occurs when a blood vessel weakens.
This preexisting condition is prone to exacerbation and rupture, leading to bleeding inside the skull.
“Most likely when he was involved in the volatile situation he started to get nervous and his blood pressure was going up,” Sorokin testified, according to a transcript of the hearing obtained by The Inquirer, “and when he received a punch in the face, I think that exacerbates his blood pressure even more.”
The physician said that Adams’ blood pressure increased during the volatile situation, and that it was impossible to attribute exactly how much either element — the verbal exchange or the punch — contributed to the stress.
Lonny Fish, a Liberty Law Team attorney representing Klevitch-Gay in his criminal case, said during the hearing that based on that testimony, Bergman was equally liable.
“I can’t tell percentages but the reality is this situation was escalated by the boss, Mr. Bergman,” Fish told the judge. “He’s coming out screaming. You can watch the video. He’s barely even in his shoes shaking at somebody mildly eating food, and then he comes out with multiple men and a baseball bat. I’m sure that contributed too.”
Fish told The Inquirer he was glad Adams’ family filed the lawsuit.
“The testimony that will come out at trial will help their lawsuit against his employer,” Fish said.
Big Ass Slices closed earlier this year.
Adams had gotten engaged five months before the assault, The Inquirer has reported. His fiancee, Hayley Hampton, described him as a silly, sarcastic, and smart person who took pride in his work. The Temple University graduate worked as a middle school teacher in his 20s and later made his way to the restaurant industry, which those who knew him said he loved.