An angry man with an axe went wild in a New York City McDonald’s early Friday morning.
The suspect, 31-year-old Michael Palacios, walked into the restaurant at 2:25 a.m. and reportedly got into an argument with three other men. He then grabbed an axe out of his backpack and shattered glass while frightening patrons, according to the New York Post.
Video of the incident shows two men attempting to hold Palacios back from confronting a group of young men and women in the restaurant. The men begin throwing punches before Palacios appears to give up and the fight deescalates. But just seconds later, the enraged man grabs an axe out of his backpack and begins hurling it around.
WATCH:
@CrimeInNYC NYC always good for some chaotic mayhem. He didn’t hurt anybody, but could have been ugly ! pic.twitter.com/I6WvqROuGR
— Shakes Mcgoo (@McgooShakes) September 17, 2022
With the axe in his hand, the suspect approaches a woman in the group and reportedly tells her, “Don’t be afraid of me, be afraid of him!”
One of the onlookers was recording the incident with a smile on his face, and a group of bystanders were also watching the events unfold. Thankfully, the rampage that could have easily resulted in serious injuries to someone eating their late-night snack only ended up in some damaged property, but the incident undoubtedly had some customers worried.
“That’s why I keep my knife on me all the time,” one person who was recording the altercation said.
Rep. Lee Zeldin, the New York Republican gubernatorial candidate, tweeted the video of the axe-wielding man and said it was just another example of crime infecting the Democrat-led state.
“Just another day in Kathy Hochul’s New York. After we fire Hochul on November 8th, we are taking back our streets!” Zeldin commented.
Last month, another New York McDonald’s saw a much worse act of violence when a restaurant worker was shot by a man who came to the fast-food joint when his mom called him to complain about employees arguing with her over cold fries, according to police. The McDonald’s employee, 23-year-old Matthew Webb, died days later, the NYPD announced.
After the shooting, a local store owner called for more police presence, saying that violence is becoming commonplace in the area. “I saw two police at the corner all week, but yesterday I didn’t see one,” he explained. “They should be at every single corner every day.”