Fast food restaurants across the country were plagued by violent incidents in 2022 that included shootings, child endangerment, cash registers jumping out of windows, and other mishaps.
4-year-old boy opens fire on police at McDonald’s in Utah
In February, police officers in Utah responded to reports that a suspect had brandished a firearm at a McDonald’s employee in response to an incorrect order.
Officers found and began detaining 27-year-old Sadaat Johnson while her 4-year-old son was sitting in the back seat of the car.
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The suspect said, “Give me the money,” while holding the worker at gunpoint.
(Philadelphia Police Department)
Body camera footage shows the moment an officer noticed a gun pointed from the rear window of Johnson’s car, at which point he alerted other officers to the gun and pushed it “to the side as it fired.”
He also alerted other officers that the 4-year-old had discharged the weapon, and a preliminary investigation indicated that the 27-year-old ordered his son to shoot the officers.
“For an adult to think it’s okay to cheer up a [4]a 12-year-old boy to draw a firearm and shoot at police illustrates how out of control the campaign against police has become,” Sheriff Rosie Rivera said in a February statement after the incident. “This must stop and we must come together as a community to find solutions to the challenges we face in our neighborhoods. The officers are here to protect and serve and we are beyond believing that something like [this] it could happen.”
Johnson was charged with child abuse, aggravated assault and interference with an arresting officer after the incident.
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Philadelphia armed robber pulls cash register through McDonald’s window
Chaos erupted at another McDonald’s location in Philadelphia in November when a burglar pointed his gun through a window at a worker and was caught on video. pulling the cash register outside the window.
“Give me the money,” the armed suspect told the clerk as he pulled up in a red van around 3:30 am before pulling out the entire cash register.
The suspect and three other people in the car fled the scene.
Shooting breaks out at KFC over corn shortage
Gunshots were heard at a St. Louis KFC after a dispute escalated between a restaurant customer and an employee over a shortage of corn.
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Police said a black man in his 40s tried to place an order at the drive-thru when an employee told him the restaurant was out of corn.
The suspect then threatened the employee on loudspeaker before approaching the drive-thru window with a gun.
A 25-year-old employee reportedly came out to talk to the driver. When the employee returned to the restaurant, he had a gunshot wound.
The victim was taken to an area hospital where he was listed in critical but stable condition and the suspect fled the scene.
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The Ax Man of New York City
Customers dining at a McDonald’s on Manhattan’s Lower East Side were traumatized in September when Michael Palacios, 31, walked out on a riot with ax after arguing with a group of men.
The incident was caught on video and Palacios could be seen breaking a glass partition, swinging the ax at petrified customers and exchanging blows with other customers.
The New York police say Palacios was arrested and charged with criminal mischief, three counts of making threats and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
Palacios was released without bail. He was arrested again for a different offense about a month later and released without bail again.
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Michael Palacios, 31, was arrested and released without bail in October for vandalizing a McDonald’s with an ax
(@nycforyou1998/Instagram)
After being released following the McDonald’s rampage, Palacios told the New York Post he is not “unhinged” or a “loose cannon” and stated that he displayed “composure” during the chaos.
“Everyone is talking about how it should be in jail,” Palacios said. “I did my 18 hours, bro. What more do you want? Why do I have to be in jail? I’m not going to make it a career just because I’m big and black.”
Florida man jumps Burger King counter with tongs demanding free food
Sadaat Johnson, 27, allegedly pointed a gun at McDonald’s employees in Midvale on February 12.
(United Police Department/ FOX 13 Utah)
Last month, a Florida man threatened Burger King employees with a pair of pliers as he jumped over the counter and demanded free food Friday, authorities said.
Hubert Credit Jr., 50, walked into the fast food restaurant in Tampa and started saying he wanted free food from the workers. When the workers refused, Credit took a pair of pliers from his pocket and threatened them, according to authorities.
Surveillance video shows Credit banging the tongs on the counter and knocking over one of the cash registers, police said. He can then be seen jumping the service counter where he allegedly made additional threats.
Terrified employees called 911 but also gave Credit free food out of fear for their safety.
Responding officers arrived and found Credit eating the food inside a stall in the men’s room, police said. The officers ordered Credit out of the bathroom and arrested him without incident.
credit was accused of robbery with a deadly weapon.
Cold fries lead to deadly shootout
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A McDonald’s employee in New York City was shot in the neck after an argument over an order of cold fries and later died of his injuries earlier this year.
Matthew Webb, 23, of Queens, was shot outside the restaurant by suspected gunman Michael Morgan, 20, after Morgan’s mother got into a dispute with the restaurant over her fries being cold.
Morgan’s mother, Lisa Fulmore, says she was laughed at by staff when she asked to speak to a manager, and that her son said “you have to do what you have to do and the [victim] came after him and what happened, happened”.
Morgan faces charges of attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Several large cities across the country witnessed increases in violent crime in 2022, which eventually spilled over into fast food places, many of which stay open late in urban areas hardest hit by rising crime.
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One of those cities was Chicago, and McDonald’s Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski warned in a September speech that rising crime was scaring employees, hurting recruiting and could force the company to reconsider staying in Chicago long term.
“I don’t have to tell you why this is important, everyone recognizes and understands the statistics,” Kempczinski said. “All of us, every person in this room has seen the corrosive effect that crime can have on the city, its psyche and its citizens.”
