A Jack in the Box employee in Houston is accused of shooting a drive-thru customer during a dispute over curly fries.
On Tuesday (September 26), a lawyer for customer Anthony Ramos released footage of the 2021 incident after filing a lawsuit against the restaurant and employee, Alonniea Fantasia Ford, People reports.
According to the suit, Ramos, his pregnant wife, and six-year-old daughter ordered two combo meals on March 3, 2021 at a Jack in the Box near Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport. After ordering their meals, the family said their curly fries were missing, which prompted an argument.
The incident escalated and Ramos requested a manager, according to the family’s lawyer. Ford appeared to throw ice and ketchup packets at the Ramos family and later grabbed a gun from her pocket and allegedly fired shots at their truck.
The Ramos family then sped away to safety and called 911. Officers arrived at the scene after Ford allegedly cleaned up and put the gun away.
Before working at Jack in the Box, Ford was charged and pleaded guilty to terroristic threat in 2012, the Ramos lawyer told People.
“Jack in the Box needs to investigate their prospective employees,” attorney Randall L. Kallinen said. “As in this example, Ms. Ford had pled guilty to a terroristic threat, and that was a public record in Harris County. Also, the manager should have de-escalated the situation. On the video, it appeared that the manager did not do anything to tell the employee to go back or that they would take care of it, and let the situation escalate.”
Kallinen said the fast food chain needs to implement better policies to protect its customers.
“Jack in the Box needs to do background checks on employees so as not to expose their customers to someone who would attempt to kill them,” the lawyer said in a press release.
Ford was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of deadly conduct. She was handed down a sentence of one year deferred adjudication.
Ramos’ lawsuit accuses Ford of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence. The suit also alleges that Jack in the Box was negligent in hiring Ford.
The case is expected to go to trial in November.
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