Another viral video of an ugly incident has yet again led to someone reportedly getting fired, but this time it’s not because the employee was involved in the incident.
In a video posted on social media and reported by CBS Los Angeles Monday, a group of unidentified teenage girls can be seen hurling what witnesses say were heavy objects at employees at a Moreno Valley McDonald’s after being asked by a mother to exit the children’s play area. Police say the violence resulted in thousands of dollars of damage.
The outburst reportedly began in the children’s “clubhouse” area, where a young mother of a 2 and 5-year-old asked the teen girls to leave. She says they then threatened to fight her, but she refused to take the bait.
They then “came and they threw cups of water and ice at us,” the mother, who asked to remain anonymous, told CBS.
“Telling me to get up and fight them, and I said I’m not gonna fight you,” she said. “I mean, you saw what they did to the older man.”
The tension spilled out into the dining area, where the girls allegedly raged against employees as seen in cell phone video posted to Facebook (see report below).
“I was about to get hit in the head. They were throwing them pretty high too, like they had no aim,” said employee Dexter Forbes Jr., who says he was fired by the McDonald’s after posting the video online, CBS reports. The melee resulted in at least one monitor being broken, said Forbes.
The mother says she asked the manager for help twice, but he largely remained in the back. Eventually an older man in a black sweater tried to intervene.
“He was doing way more work than my manager was,” said Forbes, referencing the man in the sweater. “He was making sure they were okay, he walked to the back with them.”
The manager did call the cops, Forbes said, but was asked by authorities to remain on the phone as much of the violence occurred.
CBS reports that the woman’s father eventually chased the group outside “and held onto one of the girls while he called the cops.” His daughter says she came outside and asked him to let the girl go, but added that the teens “were punching me the whole time.”
The mother said she feels like things never had to get so out of control. “I feel like it could have been prevented,” she said.
“A manager at the McDonald’s said he couldn’t talk about the incident, and referred KCAL9’s Nicole Comstock to another manager, who did not immediately respond,” CBS reports.
Moreno Valley McDonald’s Owner-Operator Thomas Mangione has since responded in a statement to the outlet: “The safety and security of our guests and their families are a top priority. We have been in contact with the local law enforcement and are fully cooperating with their investigation.”
The cell phone video featured below in CBS Los Angeles’ report was posted on Facebook. Another video showing the incident was posted on YouTube. Below is CBS Los Angeles’ coverage of the video and the aftermath:
