The video of a man from Florida attacking a black female worker at McDonald’s has gone viral.
It showed the enraged customer grabbing hold of the staff’s uniform top so he could drag her behind the counter.
However, she fought back and punched the man repeatedly on the face.
Apparently, the man was upset over the store’s new policy about straws.
Police identified the customer as Daniel Willis Taylor, 40, from Clearwater, Florida.
The McDonald’s worker he attacked was Yasmine James, 20, who trains as a boxer.
Witness Brenda Biandudi, whose son posted the viral video on Facebook, told the press that Taylor complained about the lack of straws at the drink station.
James, on the other hand, explained to the customer that the store had to comply with the new law mandating that straws should not be displayed at the counters and should only be given to customers as per their request.
The City Council at St. Petersburg approved a law banning plastic straws last December 2018.
But businesses have been mandated to follow a year-long grace period before this law was to take effect in 2020.
Taylor, however, seemed displeased about this policy despite the McDonald worker’s explanation so he initiated the attack.
Biandudi recalled that Taylor started using expletives and profanity against James before he became violent.
That’s when Biandudi decided to video the encounter, which has received more than 3.7 million views as of press time.
The video showed James losing her balance for a second after Taylor grabbed her by the collar but she quickly gained her composure and threw punches on the man’s face.
Another McDonald’s worker was standing behind her but it took more than 10 seconds for him to try to break up the fight.
In the meantime, no one was stopping the customer who was still physically attacking James.
When Taylor let her go, James proceeded to shout at her attacker while another employee escorted her away from the counter.
The manager stepped in to try to talk to Taylor who said that James must be fired. James, however, told Taylor that he is going to jail.
At which point, the customer shouted more profanities directed at the McDonald’s worker.
But social media users were outraged that no one from James’ co-workers took immediate action while Taylor attacked an employee.
Netizens think that the McDonald’s manager must be fired for not immediately thinking to assist a staff who was being assaulted.
When Taylor left the store, he also apparently assaulted another staff, 23-year-old Tateona Bell, which was not caught on video.
However, the angry customer was already gone by the time the police arrived at McDonald’s.
Later that evening, St. Petersburg police received a call about an unarmed robbery and recognized Taylor from the video.
The man was then arrested and is now facing charges for two counts of battery, according to NBC News.
Later that evening, St. Petersburg police received a call about an unarmed robbery and recognized Taylor from the video.
The man was then arrested and is now facing charges for two counts of simple battery in the first degree.
Meanwhile, McDonald’s also issued a statement regarding the incident, as per Business Insider.
A company representative said that their highest priority is the workers and that they will be fully cooperating with the police investigation.
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