"I was trying to de-escalate as much as I felt was appropriate for the situation," the barista, 23-year-old Emma Lee, tells Inside Edition.
The barista captured on video breaking a drive-through customer's windshield with a hammer after the customer threw coffee at her is speaking out.
Video of the incident shows the customer getting out of his car, apparently because he was upset about being charged $20 for a coffee and water. He wanted $5 off, but the barista and owner of the business, 23-year-old Emma Lee, said no.
At one point, Lee, while holding the man's order, demands he leave. "If you don't leave, I'm going to throw this on you. Do you want me to throw this on you?" she says.
After Lee gave the customer his drinks, he threw the water at her, and then the coffee.
Lee then smashed his windshield with a hammer.
Video of the incident has since gone viral on social media.
"I was trying to de-escalate as much as I felt was appropriate for the situation," Lee tells Inside Edition.
She owns the "Taste of Heaven" bikini coffee stand in Seattle. Typically to draw customers, she wears a bikini.
"I have a hammer under the counter for self-defense," Lee says. "In this particular business, where women are alone, they are extra vulnerable, you need it."
Lee wants the customer charged with assault. He has been banned from the stand.
