Officers who responded to the scene last Sunday were told by witnesses the customer “pitched a fit” after not getting his Filet-o-Fish. After leaving the drive thru, the suspect exited his vehicle, grabbed a shopping cart and proceeded to bash it into the side of another person’s car.
The fast food incident, which took place at Lockwood Ridge Road in Sarasota, was described in a report filed by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, obtained by The Smoking Gun. It noted the unknown suspect fled the scene and is now wanted on suspicion of criminal mischief.
The man’s attack resulted in approximately $2,000 worth of damage to the victim’s car, police said. The vehicle belonged to a 46-year-old Bradenton woman, The Smoking Gun reported.
“The unknown suspect fled in an unknown direction,” the incident report said. “The victim nor the witness had any idea who the suspect was.” It was not immediately clear where the suspect had found the shopping cart. The sheriff’s office investigation remains ongoing.
According to the website of Richard Hornsby, an Orlando-based criminal defense lawyer, the charge of criminal mischief, which is also commonly known as vandalism, is committed when a suspect “willfully and maliciously damages another person’s property.”
“The crime of criminal mischief which results in more than $1,000 in damage is a third degree felony and is assigned a level 2 offense severity ranking under Florida’s Criminal Punishment Code. If convicted of criminal mischief causing more than $1,000 in damage, a judge can impose up to five years in jail, up to five years of probation and up to $5,000 in fines,” the site explains.
In July, a Tennessee woman was charged with aggravated assault after allegedly attacking a McDonald’s drive-thru manager with a stun gun. The suspect was captured on surveillance footage grabbing the victim by the head and pulling him out of a window.
In March, a 21-year-old male McDonald’s employee in Indiana was charged with battery after allegedly hurling a cheeseburger at a female co-worker. The 18-year-old victim called 911 and requested to press charges, claiming the burger hit her directly on the face.
The store manager told police some employees were angry with the teen for working slowly. Bloomington Police Lt. John Kovach said the culprit was handed a misdemeanor charge and ordered to appear in court. But he added: “It’s not something we would put anyone in jail for.”
