By GEORGE FJELD
BRANDON—Chef Robert Barral was attacked and stabbed in his restaurant, Café Provence on Saturday, April 5th at 4:30 in the afternoon. Fellow restaurateur, Matt Lewis, and restaurant patrons delivered immediate first aid before the ambulance arrived. Barral was transported to Rutland Regional Medical Center and subsequently transferred to The University of Vermont Medical Center for further evaluation. He was released in stable condition on Sunday to recuperate at home.
According to eye witnesses, a former Café employee Jozef Eller of Hancock, entered the restaurant Saturday and began to take alcohol off the shelves. Eller is under a no-tresspass order prohibiting him from entering Café Provence or the Center Street Bar. Chef Robert asked him to leave and Eller charged him, knife in hand. Barral defended himself and his patrons against Eller who holds a black belt in the martial arts. Barral tried to trip Eller and threw a chair at him before Barral was stabbed repeatedly, thrown to the ground, and kicked in the chest. Eller broke his knife in his attempt to stab Barral in the head. He then fled to his truck, breaking the windshield of a parked car on his way out of the restaurant. Eller was seen buying alcohol in another downtown establishment in the hours prior to the incident. Witnesses describe him as a very dirty man with long unkempt hair and a full beard.
Eller was apprehended at 10:10 Saturday evening in Rochester, Vermont without further incident. He was jailed without bail on charges of attempted second degree murder and violating the no-tresspassing order. Eller was arraigned in Windsor Court on Monday, pled not guilty to his charges and is being held without bail. He inexplicably said “I love you” as he was taken from the courtroom. Last summer Eller was charged with aggravated domestic violence after he caused injury to a household member. A former high school honors student, Eller is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute. He has worked in a number of restaurants in Vermont.
Café Provence employees are being offered counseling and plan to reopen the restaurant on Wednesday.
