Cue the Power Rangers theme song, because it’s morphin’ time. Patrons at NōKA Ramen in Oakland, California, witnessed a real-life Power Rangers episode when staff members turned into crime fighters after a woman in need of help entered the establishment. Dressed in Power Rangers costumes to go with the restaurant’s theme and signature cocktails, the group’s role-playing turned into a reality that quickly went viral after being detailed in a Twitter thread on Oct. 14.
"The craziest thing just happened at dinner," the user who began the thread said in their initial tweet. "I'm at a ramen shop owned by Thai people in Oakland dressed as power rangers, when a woman comes rushing in saying she wasn't safe — and a man came running in after her and puts her in a chokehold.”
"Once the woman had expressed she wasn't safe, and she didn't want to go home with this man who was choke holding her, the black power ranger (the manager with a kickass bob) and the yellow ranger, told the man to leave," user Ploi de Vivre⁷, said on Twitter. "He swung at them. This is when all rangers yelled, 'Huey!' "
The Twitter user continued on to describe the scene and noted that the employee dressed as the Yellow Ranger then blocked a punch from the man, while other employees told the woman to hide in their kitchen.
According to the Twitter thread, the man then began using racial slurs and attempted to follow the woman into the kitchen, but the employee dressed as the Yellow Ranger stepped in again, grabbing the man by his collar and removing him from the establishment.
While the man allegedly tried to return to the restaurant with another person, the pair were kicked out.
“We’re trying to call the cops. Patrons are shaking & crying. The pink power ranger (hostess) tells us our food is free. The man goes outside, starts picking up chairs, baby seats & salt + pepper shakers to throw at the windows. I, for some reason, start wolfing down my ramen," a tweet describing the chaos said.
Police officials eventually arrived and took over the scene.
The Twitter user ended the thread with: ”I thank all the rangers for their time. The food at Noka Ramen was excellent.”
In response to the bizarre incident, NōKA Ramen shared a post on Instagram featuring a photo of the staff members in their Power Ranger costumes.
"Our NōKA Rangers were real life heroes last night when an incident occurred 💛," the restaurant said in its post "Like our heroic namesakes, it's not just the powers and costumes that give us strength. It's who and what we are inside that empowers us. While we're proud of our team for going above and beyond in our time of need, we would like to assure our guests that this event is an anomaly at our restaurant.”
The post continued: “The safety of our guests and employees is of utmost importance to us. We are fully cooperating with the police in identifying the individual involved."
The story has gone viral since being shared on Twitter, with several social media users applauding the restaurant’s staff for caring for the woman.
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