8 Times Crimes Went Down At Fast Food Restaurants

Going for a meal at a fast food restaurant isn't exactly fine dining, but most people expect it to be, at the bare minimum, a non-violent experience. Sadly, that isn't always the case. Fast food restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King, and Taco Bell have been the scene of crimes ranging from terrifying to just plain bizarre, with customers and employees getting into vicious spats over everything from receiving a badly made milkshake to picking up the wrong drive-thru order. People have been flung into the fryer, chairs have been tossed, restaurants have been destroyed... all in the name of fast food.

Just consider these eight violent incidents that took place at beloved fast food chains across America. 

1. An attempt to destroy the golden arches

Earlier this year, Jedediah Ezekiel Fulton, 37, was arrested after an incident at a McDonald's in Sutherlin, Oregon. According to a police report published by The Smoking Gun, "Fulton caused a disturbance due to being upset McDonald's would not make him 30 double cheeseburgers."

As a reaction to this perceived McInjustice, "Fulton destroyed a banner and attempted to destroy their golden arches." It’s unclear exactly how Fulton tried to destroy the arches. The person who reported the incident to police then confronted Fulton. Police said Fulton reacted by grabbing the collar of that person. Another customer who witnessed the altercation "feared for Reporting Party's life so a firearm was displayed." Fulton was arrested on suspicion of second-degree disorderly conduct, second-degree criminal trespass, second-degree criminal mischief, and harassment. 

2. Customer attacks worker over milkshake

In 2016, a Dallas, Texas man ordered a milkshake at Burger King. Sounds uneventful enough, but things quickly spiraled out of control. The man didn’t like the way his milkshake was made so he attacked employee Alejandra Estrada, the woman who made the shake. Security footage obtained by KTVT-TV in Dallas showed the man tossing a milkshake toward Estrada, 60. He then threw a chair over the counter before chasing her to the back of the restaurant, where he punched her and threatened to kill her. It appears that police never identified or arrested the man.

3. Burrito beating

A Taco Bell employee allegedly assaulted his manager with a hot burrito in Spartanburg, South Carolina earlier this year because he was “upset over having to work the morning shift,” according to a police report published by Smoking Gun. The employee, Christopher Dalton, was allegedly angry over his work schedule and he didn’t take it well when his manager, Patricia Keeley, allegedly told him “to stop being a crybaby.” He then “slung” a burrito at Keeley, who told the cops that “the melted cheese got all over her left arm and went all down her left side and leg.” The cheese also got “over all the appliances” of the fast food restaurant’s kitchen.

4. Burger King bikini brawl 

A woman in a bikini instigated a brawl at Burger King in Panama City Beach, Florida in 2011. The fight was reportedly triggered when the woman, identified as Kimesa Smith, complained about her food order.

She allegedly threw objects at employees before jumping up on the counter and throwing more items at people. The incident was caught on video, which quickly went viral. Smith was charged with misdemeanor battery, criminal mischief, and disorderly conduct in connection with the incident, according to The Associated Press.

5. Toddler in the drive-thru

An abused woman attempted to hand off her 2-year-old daughter to a McDonald’s worker through a drive-thru window as she was being beaten by her boyfriend in Cincinnati in 2016. Video caught the dramatic moment when  Jessica Wilson tried to give her daughter to the fast food employee. However, the attempt was thwarted when the child’s father, Levenski Crossty, grabbed the child and drove off. Crossty was sentenced to two decades behind bars in connection with the incident, according to Cincinnati.com. The prosecution said he badly beat Wilson in front of four of her children.

6. Customer shoves employee into fryer

Earlier this year, a customer who ordered a bacon biscuit but instead mistakenly received a sausage biscuit allegedly shoved an employee into a french fry station. The customer, Debreaka Jones, received her order at the drive-thru window. Not only did she throw it back through the window but she got out of her car, walked into the Glendale, Wisconsin McDonald's, got behind the counter, and attacked a teen employee by shoving her into the french fry station, according to WISN 12 News.

"What the [expletive] is this? I didn't order no sausage biscuit," Jones said, according to the Journal Sentinel.

The victim suffered a bump on the head, but is reportedly OK. Jones was charged with  one count of physical abuse of a child and a count of disorderly conduct.

7. McNugget attack

In 2010, a Toledo, Ohio woman allegedly punched through a McDonald's drive-thru window after an employee refused to sell her Chicken McNuggets.

Melodi Dushane, then 24, was arrested and charged with vandalism in connection with the incident, which she pleaded not guilty to, according to The Associated Press. She also had to be treated for injuries after the attack.

8. Paintball attack over a frappe

After a McDonald's employee in Dearborn, Michigan told a customer that the frappe machine wasn’t working earlier this year, that customer shot her in the face with a paintball gun. The worker, who only went by Kivona to the media, suffered a wound to her face, just inches away from her eye. It was a scary moment; at first she thought she was shot in the face with a real gun, she told WXYZ in Detroit.

"It wasn't like I was being nasty or anything. I just took his order and he wasn't satisfied with the answer he had got," she said of her attacker. It does not appear that the police figured out his identity.

[Photo: Getty Images]