A late-night trip to McDonald’s in Miami Gardens turned criminal after an employee allegedly pulled a gun on customers during a dispute over a long-delayed order.
Authorities have charged 19-year-old Anthony Markeith Elliott III with aggravated assault with a firearm following the confrontation, which unfolded around 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 2.
According to the Miami Gardens Police Department, the situation began when several customers arrived at the McDonald’s on Northwest 183rd Street to pick up their online order.
They reportedly grew frustrated after waiting an extended period for their food.
What began as irritation soon spiraled into a confrontation that escalated far beyond words.
An arrest affidavit obtained by Law & Crime, investigators described the scene as an argument that erupted between the customers and Elliott, who was working as a cashier at the drive-thru window.
“The victims had come to the McDonald’s to pick up their online food order and stated that they had been there a long time waiting for their food,” the report reads.
“They stated that the defendant, who is the cashier at the window, began giving them attitude and argued with them. They stated that they argued back and forth, and then the defendant stated he would come outside. And then came outside and flashed them a gun on his waist band.”
Chayton Timmons, one of the customers involved, detailed the tense encounter to local television station WPLG.
She said she and her goddaughter had been waiting for more than an hour for their food before the argument began.
“We looking at each other, me and my goddaughter looking at each other, like, ‘Why are you upset?’ And he was like, ‘I don’t have to give you nothing,’” Timmons told the outlet.
“He was like, ‘What you said (expletive)? What you said (expletive)?’ And we were like, ‘Are you serious?’ Like, what’s really going on? So he clutched at his waist.”
Police said that despite the alleged threat, the customers did not back down. “They continued arguing with him and then he approached the car and pulled the gun from his waistband and pointed it at them in the car,” the affidavit continued.
Timmons told WPLG that she immediately called police when she saw the siler handgun with a black grip.
“I got on the phone with the cops,” she recalled. “I said, ‘This is going to go one of two ways, Miami Gardens Police Department: Y’all need to get here to McDonald’s, because somebody finna die.’”
Timmons, who previously survived a shooting, said that her personal history made her unwilling to take any chances.
“He has a death wish,” Timmons said in reference to Elliott. “He must have a death wish. This has got to be a suicide. Because it’s no way I’m finna allow you to do anything bodily harm to mine.”
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“All over McChicken,” she added. “He must want to have a McFuneral to put my kids in harm’s way and that’s a problem for me. I’m not that type of girl, I’m not that type of woman and I’m not the type of parent.”
Another regular wasn’t shocked that Elliot was armed, but noted that society is chronically impatient.
“This is the world that we’re living in today, so everybody has a gun,” commented a customer named Allison.
“Just because it’s fast food doesn’t mean you don’t have to wait. That’s it. People have to learn to have patience,” she noted.
Police later interviewed Elliott, who allegedly admitted to displaying the firearm and told officers where it was hidden inside the restaurant.
“When we confronted the defendant, he admitted to pulling out the firearm and advised us where he had stored it inside the store,” the affidavit said.
“The gun matched the description given to us by the victims. The witness, who is the store manager, also advised us what had occurred, and all three stories matched.”
Elliott was arrested and booked on a single count of aggravated assault with a firearm. He was released after posting a $1,000 bond on Tuesday.
McDonalds told CBS News, “The safety of our crew and customers is our top priority, and we have a strict no weapons policy in our restaurants. We’re offering our full cooperation to local authorities as they look into this incident.”
In a separate McDonald’s incident hundreds of miles away, police in Michigan are searching for a woman accused of hurling a cup of hot coffee at a store manager after a dispute over a refund.
According to Buena Vista Township Police Detective Russ Pahssen, the altercation took place at a McDonald’s located on Dixie Highway in Buena Vista Township.
The female manager told police that the customer became irate after requesting a refund for two sandwiches ordered online.
A different customer captured the last moments of the confrontation on video.
The footage shows the manager handing the suspect a coffee and attempting to calm her down while the woman complains that she had been waiting for over an hour.
When the conversation went nowhere, the manager turned away, telling the woman to have a great day.
At that moment, the customer removed the lid from the coffee cup, flung the contents at the manager, and shouted, “F**k you, b***h! Catch that hot-ass coffee!” before storming out of the restaurant.
The video captures the manager screaming in pain as the scalding liquid soaks her.
Detective Pahssen told MLive that the manager suffered burns to her back and left arm, though the injuries were not life-threatening.
After the footage was shared online, police received an outpouring of assistance from the public.
“I must have gotten about 100 tips,” Pahssen told the outlet. “Within about two minutes, we had her identified.”
Authorities said they have identified the 48-year-old suspect and submitted a request to the Saginaw County Prosecutor’s Office to charge her with felonious assault.
Investigators have not released the woman’s name because she has not yet been arraigned, according to WJRT-TV.
