A Merrill Lynch financial adviser from Connecticut who was arrested for allegedly throwing a smoothie at a teenage employee — calling her a “f—ing immigrant” — has been fired after footage of his racist rant went viral.
James Iannazzo, 48, was arrested and charged with a hate crime following the chaotic scene at Robeks in Fairfield just before 2:30 p.m. Saturday, the Fairfield Police Department said.
The wild encounter erupted when an irate Iannazzo returned to the store after earlier ordering a smoothie that supposedly contained peanuts, which caused his highly allergic son to have a reaction and require hospitalization, authorities said.
A remorseful Iannazzo said Monday in a statement that he was “out of my mind with fear” for his son and insisted that he told staff about the peanut allergy when he ordered the drink — despite employees telling cops the father had just asked for no peanut butter.
Video taken by one of the workers shows Iannazzo allegedly standing behind the counter repeatedly demanding to know who made the drink.
Iannazzo lashes out and calls the staffers “f–king stupid, f–king ignorant high school kids” when they couldn’t tell him who had made it, according to the footage.
He then allegedly called one of the workers a “f—ing b—-” and hurled the drink at her, striking her shoulder.
Iannazzo continued his expletive-ridden outburst before allegedly calling the female employee he struck with the drink a “f—ing immigrant.”
The video of the ordeal circulating on Twitter had been viewed more than 2.6 million times by early Monday.
A spokesman for Merrill Lynch told The Post that Iannazzo, who had been with the wealth management firm since 1995, was fired on Sunday as a result of the incident. Iannazzo’s LinkedIn profile lists him as a managing director at the firm.
“Our company does not tolerate behavior of this kind. We immediately investigated and have taken action. This individual is no longer employed at our firm,” a statement said.
Iannazzo, who turned himself into cops after the incident, issued a statement Monday saying he made the “regrettable comments” after his 17-year-old son went into “life threatening anaphylactic shock.”
“After he started to drink his smoothie, my son lost the capacity to breathe properly; his lips and face swelled up, and he required an EpiPen shot, but it did not offer him relief. I called 911,” Iannazzo said in the statement.
James Iannazzo reportedly ordered the smoothie without peanut butter but didn’t mention that his son had an allergy. TikTok/@andreamorris2.0“My son then went to the bathroom, threw up and fell unconscious to the floor. He threw up again. My wife gave him another EpiPen while I called 911 again.”
Iannazzo said he was “out of my mind with fear for him” when he returned to the smoothie store, saying his actions were “wrong and I deeply regret them.”
“They do not reflect my values or my character. I feel terrible that I lost my composure so completely,” he said.
James Iannazzo returned to the store, upset about his son’s severe allergic reaction. TikTok/@andreamorris2.0“I wish I had not done so. I also wish they had been more careful preparing my son’s beverage. I will be extending my apologies personally to the Robek’s organization, particularly the staff that was working there that night.”
Iannazzo added that his son was “doing okay” after being treated in hospital.
His attorney, Frank J. Riccio, had earlier issued a statement on his behalf saying Iannazzo’s son was rushed via ambulance to the hospital.
James Iannazzo allegedly called one of the workers a “f–king b—h” and hurled the drink at her, and then calling her a “f–king immigrant.” TikTok/@andreamorris2.0“When faced with a dire situation, Mr. Iannazzo’s parental instinct kicked in and he acted out of anger and fear. He is not a racist and deeply regrets his statement and actions during a moment of extreme emotion,” the attorney said.
Iannazzo was charged with intimidation based on bigotry or bias, breach of peace and criminal trespass.
