Reliving a Freddy Krueger moment
Police described the incident as a night of terror for all involved, including the McDonald’s employee who put herself in considerable danger to save a 2-year-old from being grabbed. The nightmare was revisited this week during a court trial that showed how awful developments from the outside world can spill into a restaurant innocently conducting business as usual.
In this case, the shift had started routinely for the Cincinnati McDonald’s last July. But it was upended when the staff saw a woman jump out the passenger side of a car in the pull-up lane, the angry male driver in hot pursuit. In the woman’s arms was the toddler. The woman had clearly been beaten, and the man seemed determined not to let her get away.
Instead of slamming shut the pass-thru window, the drive-thru attendant threw open the portal, leaned out as far as she could and implored the fleeing woman to pass her the baby. As the transfer was underway, the pursuing man snatched the child and stepped back to the car, shoving the infant inside, where three other children were watching. Then he drove off with the four kids, leaving behind the bruised and bloodied mother.
Authorities quickly tracked down the man and the children, which he’d dropped off at another location. The man said the mother had been drunk and he was merely saving the children. He was arrested.
The heroic employee was not identified in press reports, presumably because of her age.