An Iowa woman has been arrested after she was caught on video climbing over a counter at a McDonald’s to assault an employee.
Valerie Shepherd, 21, was arrested on Tuesday, June 6, by Des Moines police. She was charged with assault causing injury and disorderly conduct.
The assault occurred around 9 PM on Saturday, June 3, when two men and Shepherd entered the McDonald’s on East Euclid Avenue in Iowa.
Shepherd and the two men ordered McChicken sandwiches, however, they became angry with how long it was taking to receive the chicken sandwiches. According to police, this is what eventually led to the brawl.
The heated, profanity-laden argument continued between McDonald’s staff and the woman, the video shows. The manager is seen handing the woman a McChicken she ordered, but the woman rejects it and throws the chicken sandwich back in her face. Two men with the woman soon approached the counter and an employee attempted to dial 911, but the woman knocked the phone out of her hand and then punched her, the employee told police.
In the video, the manager holds back a punch, which prompts the woman to climb the counter and throw punches of her own. She knocks over a couple of bottles and the fighting continues. “Grab her hair,” one of the men who accompanied the woman is heard saying in the video.
After the woman came across the counter and a man she was with came through a door behind the counter and grabbed the woman around the throat with his arm, the report states. There were as many as nine people behind the counter involved in the altercation, with staff and the two men among others having to separate the manager and woman.
Shepherd and the two men left the scene in a blue, four-door Ford pickup. Employees said they believed they were intoxicated.