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UConn Student in Viral Attack Apologizes for Drunken Mac and Cheese Meltdown

Luke Gatti, a 19-year-old freshman, appeared contrite in an apology made after a video of him attacking a dining hall employee went viral this month.
Luke Gatti, the UConn student arrested after being caught on camera berating a food service worker on campus, has posted an apology on YouTube.
Luke Gatti, the UConn student arrested after being caught on camera berating a food service worker on campus, has posted an apology on YouTube.Luke Gatti via YouTube

The University of Connecticut freshman whose drunken, dining hall mac-and-cheese meltdown went viral on YouTube has apologized in a video of his own.

Luke Gatti, 19, a first-year student from Bayville, New York, appeared contrite in the clip posted to YouTube on Oct. 11.

In it, he admitted, he was "to say the least, very intoxicated" on Oct. 4, when he yelled at and shoved dining hall supervisor Dave Robinson on campus.

The alcohol-fueled, obscenity-laced incident was sparked when Robinson refused to serve him the mac and cheese because Gatti had an open container of alcohol, which is banned.

Related: University of Michigan Alcohol Policy Is Strict, But Could Prevent Tragedy

In his apology, Gatti says he has seen the original video, and apologizes to the UConn dining hall staff, his friends and family, and the university student body.

Luke Gatti, the UConn student arrested after being caught on camera berating a food service worker on campus, has posted an apology on YouTube.
Luke Gatti, the UConn student arrested after being caught on camera berating a food service worker on campus, has posted an apology on YouTube.Luke Gatti via YouTube

"When I watched the video a few days later, I couldn’t even believe it was me in it," he says, adding that he’s ashamed because "this isn’t what I’m all about."

"The thing that’s always gotten me into trouble is my big mouth," he said, admitting he's got some problems that "I am addressing" thanks to this "wake-up call."

Related: Crispy, Crunchy... Crickets? UConn Food Truck Has Unusual Menu

He urges his supporters who want to send him "donations" of mac and cheese, to send the gifts to a local food pantry instead.

Gatti was set to face criminal trespassing and breach of peace charges in court Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.

The AP also reports that this wasn’t Gatti’s first brush with the law. While a student at the University of Massachusetts, he was arrested twice in 2014 for disorderly conduct.

His father told the Hartford Courant that his family has faced harsh public criticism from the incident.

"He's a kid that made a bad mistake," Vincent Gatti told the paper. "My son was wrong and feels terrible about this."