Iannazzo was charged with a hate crime—"intimidation based on bigotry or bias, breach of peace and criminal trespass”—for throwing a smoothie at a teenage employee and calling her a “f—ing immigrant” amid an expletive-filled rant.
Iannazzo picked up a smoothie earlier in the day, only to return to the shop later to confront its employees. He claims he was given a smoothie that sent his 17-year-old son to the hospital with “life threatening anaphylactic shock” despite telling the staff about his son’s peanut allergy. The staff says Iannazzo asked for no peanut butter in the smoothie, but did not mention the allergy.
Iannazzo later issued a statement saying, in part, that he deeply regrets his actions and was “out of my mind with fear” because of his son’s hospitalization.
Iannazzo had been with Merrill’s wealth management group since 1995, and his LinkedIn profile says he was a managing director at the firm, according to the article.