Hope Island death: ‘Highly agitated, aggressive’ man dies suddenly at Qld restaurant

A waitress has described wild scenes, including death threats and the appearance of “men in black” before a man covered in blood died at a popular Gold Coast Thai restaurant.

Police at Chim Thai Cove restaurant at Sanctuary Cove. Picture: mygc.com.au

A man in his 40s has died at a Gold Coast restaurant following a disturbance in which he was allegedly “highly agitated and aggressive”.

Sources said the incident happened at the Chim Thai Cove restaurant at Sanctuary Cove on Hope Island on Friday evening, with initial reports of a man who appeared to be on drugs and “screaming and yelling and behaving erratically”.

A doctor who was dining at the restaurant tried to revive the man along with paramedics but he died at the scene.

Police say investigations are under way to establish the cause of the man’s death and are asking for witnesses to come forward.

The matter is being investigated by Queensland Police Ethical Standards Command overviewed by the Crime and Corruption Commission.

A waitress described the terrifying lead-up to the dramatic death, saying the man ran in covered in blood and in “complete fear”.

Speaking to the Sunday Mail, waitress Natalie Omer, 22, told how two men dressed in black ran in and threatened to kill the man as he was on the floor unless he gave them money and that she had yelled out in Thai to kitchen staff to “hide the knives”.

Ms Omer said the restaurant was packed with diners including families when the drama erupted about 7.30pm.

“This gentleman came running in asking for help,” she said.

Waitress Natalie Omer witnessed the death of a man at a restaurant in Sanctuary Cove. Pic: Facebook

“He was barefoot and had a fair bit of blood on him and was in complete fear. He was yelling ‘please help me, please help me – they’re going to come and kill me’. He was quite distressed and really scared.”

Ms Omer said she didn’t know what was happening and stood in front of an elderly female colleague to protect her as the man lay on the kitchen floor “so whoever was after him couldn’t see him”.

She said her boss got him out of the kitchen and three male diners restrained him in the middle of the restaurant.

It was then that two men wearing black shirts and shorts ran in and threatened the man.

“They were saying “you f…ing c..t, you better give us our f…g money or else you’re dead,” she said.

“I was trying to understand what was happening. It was insane.”

Ms Omer said she immediately rang the police and the two men fled.

“Unfortunately, as he was getting pinned down, he must have passed away,” she said.

“When the first police officer arrived, the man was already unconscious and by the time paramedics and more police arrived, I think he was already deceased.

“I don’t think the three guys pinning him down were putting any pressure on him. They were just trying to calm him down.”

Ms Omer said she feared the man might try and grab a knife and yelled out in Thai to kitchen staff to “grab all the knives and hide them”.

“It was a chaotic and traumatic night,” she said.

Sanctuary Cove wrote on social media that centre management is “deeply saddened by the death of a patron”.

“As this is now a police matter, we are unable to make any further comment at this stage.”

Police said in a statement they wanted to hear from anyone who witnessed the incident.

“The Queensland Police Service Ethical Standards Command continues the investigation on behalf of the State Coroner, including a series of incidents involving the man in the Sanctuary Cove precinct,” the statement said.

“Police have identified several witnesses and appeal to anyone who may have witnessed a disturbance in the area between 7.30pm – 8.30pm Friday, February 17 to contact Policelink on 131 444.”