Impatient Burger King Drive-Thru Customer Allegedly Punches Worker In The Face
In another instance of drive-thru rage, two Burger King customers got into an altercation with a worker over slow service, which turned violent
The dispute resulted in the Burger King employee getting socked in the jaw.
In the Bradenton, Florida, incident on Wednesday evening, the two hungry customers in a Ford Ranger at the drive-thru window exited their vehicle to confront the worker about how long their order was taking. Burger King’s traditional slogan is “have it your way” which apparently was taken to an unacceptable extreme by the suspects.
The police report detailed that one of the suspects jumped the counter and start throwing stuff around the restaurant. When the worker, 46, followed the suspects outside and was calling 911, one of them allegedly punched him, causing the phone to fall the ground in the process. The suspect grabbed the phone and threw it, which cracked the device.
The duo then fled the scene in their vehicle and are still at large. Cops are also working on obtaining the restaurant’s surveillance footage.
“If apprehended, the pair will face misdemeanor battery and criminal mischief charges,” The Smoking Gun explained.
Fortunately, the police report suggests that the employee who as attacked in the Burger King beating “did not sustain visible injury.”
“Everyone expects their fast food to be fast — but a pair of drive-thru customers in Florida took impatience to a whole new level…ending in the assault of an employee…The police report doesn’t mention what the men ordered, which means the world will never know whether it was a wait for Chicken Fries or perhaps the inimitable extra-long cheeseburger that sent the hungry duo into a rage spiral,” Eater quipped.
A few years ago, a study suggested that Burger King had the slowest drive-thru time on average when stacked up against six of the nation’s other popular fast-food franchises. According to a 2015 study cited by CNBC, average drive-thru times at 29 different chains are increasing but accuracy in improving.
Fast-food restaurant work, particularly but not limited to the drive-thru window, can be hazardous duty.
Last September, in an incident caught on cell phone video that perhaps gives a new meaning to “takeout order,” a 16-year-old McDonald’s employee in Louisiana was allegedly pulled by her hair through the drive-thru window by a female customer and then beaten by several other females in the parking lot, according to local police.
In February, 2014, a Michigan woman who received the wrong fast-food order twice allegedly fired a shot at the McDonald’s drive-thru window.
Elsewhere, one man smashed the drive-thru window with an axe when he received cold McDonald’s French fries. In another occurrence, a plain-clothes cop pulled a gun on a drive-thru slow poke. Separately, a Dunkin’ Donuts employee was pistol whipped after he made a mistake on a drive-thru order. In separate encounter, a man suffered a “meltdown” at a Wendy’s drive-thru window when he received a cheeseburger rather than a hamburger. In Pennsylvania, a customer allegedly groped a female Arby’s drive-thru worker as she handed him his food at the window. Police in “hot pursuit” managed to apprehend the man by following a trail of curly fries and sauce.
[Photo by John Raoux/AP]
