Matawan businessman Joe Rizzuto says he’s not scared but cautious after a man ripped down a pride flag from the front of Rizzuto’s Main Street doughnut shop last weekend, threatened to burn the shop to the ground, simulated sex acts, and made a Nazi salute. The man — whom Rizzuto says was dressed like President Donald Trump, complete with a blond wig, red MAGA hat and red tie — was identified by Matawan police as 61-year-old Maciej Wojciak of Holmdel.
Police charged Wojciak with bias intimidation, terroristic threats, criminal mischief, and disorderly conduct in connection with the incident, which took place Mar. 29 at Main Street Donuts, 141 Main St. in Matawan. Rizzuto opened the shop in the fall of 2022, and he has another location on Main Street in Belmar.
“It was just a normal Saturday,” Rizzuto recalls. “I was here, obviously. It was a beautiful day out, and I remember I was in the storeroom in the back, and one of my employees comes screaming: ‘Joe, somebody just took the pride flag and walked away,’ and I said, ‘What?”
Rizzuto says he went outside and saw the man crossing the street. “So I go across the street like a dummy because you know, hindsight, I didn’t know if he had a gun or a knife or something like that,” Rizzuto said. Confronting the man, Rizzuto said he told him, “That’s my flag, and I want it back.” The man, Rizzuto recounted, said, “You’re not getting it back.”
Rizzuto said the two of them struggled in the middle of Main Street and eventually Rizzuto grabbed the flag back from the man, who then ran to his car. “My next instinct was to take a picture of his license plate,” Rizzuto said. The man drove off, and Rizzuto called the police. When officers arrived, Rizzuto said, they told him that the vehicle had Georgia plates and that wasn’t good news because the person could just be transient. “You’re not going to have Georgia plates with a New Jersey address connected to it, so I was like, ‘Ah, jeez,” Rizzuto said.
However, officers put out an All Points Bulletin, or A.P.B., and “within minutes,” police from nearby Holmdel recognized the vehicle “because the guy has been in trouble multiple times,” Rizzuto said. According to municipal court records from numerous municipalities throughout the state, Wojciak has faced charges that include lewdness, harassment, contempt in municipal courts, failure to report an accident, leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage, operating under the influence of liquor or drugs, refusal to submit to a chemical test, criminal trespass, resisting arrest/eluding after instructions to stop in a motor vehicle, careless driving, reckless driving, throwing objects from a motor vehicle, failure to possess an insurance card, failure to possess registration, and shoplifting among other violations which were traffic — or parking-related.
As far as the current incident in Matawan is concerned, once Holmdel police recognized the vehicle, Rizzuto said, officers told him they were sending squad cars to Wojciak’s house. However, Rizzuto said that Wojciak never went back home. “He came back here twice. The first time, he opened up his window, he goes, ‘See that building and that doughnut shop? I’m gonna burn it to the ground,’” Rizzuto said. “He said this in front of a couple dozen people.
It was a busy day, the barbershop next door was busy, people were walking down Main Street, as I said, it was a beautiful day,” Rizzuto said. Wojciak, Rizzuto said, drove off again but apparently made a U-turn and headed back to the doughnut shop.
“At that point, I had called the police again. I said, ‘He’s back; he’s threatening to burn down the building,” Rizzuto said. According to a Matawan police report, Wojciak, in addition to threatening to burn down the doughnut shop, made “Nazi salute gestures and simulated sexual acts in the road way.” He then fled the scene once again, police said, and was taken into custody in the area of 41 Main St. Rizzuto said Wojciak “was wearing a wig, a blond weave-over or throw-over wig, whatever you want to call it. He had a MAGA hat on and a red tie.”
This is not the first time that someone tried to steal a pride flag from his business, Rizzuto said, noting that a similar incident took place about six months after he opened. Luckily, Rizzuto said, a customer was able to take a picture of that person’s license plate and Rizzuto reported the crime to the police.
Rizzuto said that his friends thought that incident should be publicized, but Rizzuto said that’s not what he does and he didn’t feel comfortable doing that. He said he didn’t want this incident to be publicized either, but “it’s just that somebody posted it, and it went viral.”
Since the story went viral, Rizzuto has been speaking to local and national news media outlets. “I have to be honest — this is not my normal thing,” he said. “It’s very surreal. That’s the only word I can use.
“It’s nice to get this exposure; it’s good for the business because, I’m going to be honest with you, it’s hard to run a small business the last couple of years and especially now, it’s hard because people just don’t know what’s going to happen with the economy, so that’s the silver lining. I just wish it didn’t have to happen in this way.” With the publicity, though, has come an outpouring of public support.
After the incident, customers crowded the doughnut shop, and a line snaked out the door. Kids, in a show of support, made signs that now are displayed in the shop’s windows.
“Oh my God, I’ve had people from all over the state, down from Wildwood, from Bergen County, and the people from around here that didn’t even know I existed that live in the surrounding towns — Aberdeen, Old Bridge,” he said. “Some people from Matawan didn’t even know I existed. Yeah, everybody from every different color, I mean, I’ve had people, you know, coming to me saying, ‘I’m a Republican, and I don’t agree with this.’”
Matawan Mayor Joseph Altomonte said in a statement that he was “saddened by the hateful and violent actions at Main Street Donuts” that took place March 29. “Acts of bias and intimidation have no place in Matawan. I thank the Matawan Police Department for their swift response in holding those responsible accountable,” Altomonte continued.
“Main Street Donuts is a part of our community, known for its inclusivity, generosity, and service. Their contributions, from the annual Shark Run 5K to local economic development, reflect the very best of Matawan. “Our Borough remains committed to being a welcoming, inclusive place where all feel safe and valued. We stand united against hate and will continue to foster a community built on respect, diversity, and resilience.”
Rizzuto said that seeing the signs of support made by the kids has been “the most touching. “All the kids know me when they come in,” he said, adding that he always gives them little candy treats. “And I know a lot of the kids’ names, so we’re a small community, a small business.
“The people, you know, they’re saying they’re sorry, and I’m like, ‘You have nothing to be sorry about.’ I said, ‘He does,’” Rizzuto said, referring, of course, to the perpetrator. Rizzuto added that he is thankful for all the support he’s received.
Rizzuto has a husband, Rick Canero, and they have a teenage son, Lucas. They live in Aberdeen Township, which borders Matawan. This summer, they will have lived in New Jersey for 17 years.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Rizzuto said he “loves” New Jersey. “Seventeen years ago, I was, you know, listen — I’m a Brooklyn kid and you don’t go to New Jersey; New Jersey’s whatever. I don’t know why it was like that, and I bought it, but when you have kids, you think differently, and I didn’t want to raise him in New York, and we have a great life out here. It’s wonderful. I mean everybody’s been, you know, there’s never been an issue out here.”
Rizzuto lived in the city for some time after graduating college. He studied hotel/restaurant management/culinary arts at the Culinary Institute of America, according to his Facebook page. Canero is from Brooklyn as well and currently teaches in Staten Island.
When asked about his coming out process and when he knew he was gay, Rizzuto said he knew from a very young age, probably 6, although he really didn’t know what that meant at that age.
“Just because I wanted to play with this friend more than that because this friend was better looking,” he said looking back. “But I didn’t know what sex was or anything like that. I didn’t come out until I was 20 years old.” He’s now 54.
Rizzuto said his teenage years were rough. He said he got a lot of attention from girls in high school, so he stopped going out. “So I had a very lonely high school (experience). My mom didn’t know; she thought I just didn’t have friends. We talked about it later on. I was very, very depressed.”
He said he dated a girl in college, but that really didn’t go anywhere. After college, he worked in the city at Tavern on the Green, and his coworkers, sensing he was gay, encouraged him to go out with them to gay places in the city. They convinced him to go with them to one particular establishment that they said had a mixed crowd, but Rizzuto recalled that the place was more gay than mixed.
“They all knew, and they were trying to get me out of the closet, and it worked,” Rizzuto said with a laugh. “And that’s my story. I got coerced by coworkers,” he said jokingly.
“And I live my best life, that’s it. Sexuality really doesn’t have anything to do with anything, I think. It’s made a big deal of, but at the end of the day, I, you know, OK, so I love another man. That’s great. Love is love. I’m raising my child to the best ability that I think I can do, and he has a great life, and he’s doing super well. So, that’s all I can say. Sexuality really shouldn’t define me as it should anybody else.”
Is he scared about what happened to him and his business? “No, I’m cautious; I’m very cautious.”
Anyone with information about what happened at Main Street Donuts is urged to contact Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Adam Hess at 800-533-7443 or Matawan Police Department Detective Mason Sheehan at 732-290-2038.
