A man went ballistic at a fast food chain in South Euclid after he claimed the staff spit on his food and got his order wrong.
According to South Euclid Police, Dearyus Menefield, 20, even threatened to shoot the workers at the Steak N’ Shake at the Oakwood Commons shopping center at around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
One of the witnesses said she went to the fast food joint with her dad and was shocked by what she heard.
“He was behind the counter, and he was threatening them,” said Tammika Williams. “He was cussing, talking about how he's going to have somebody up he wanted his money back, we thought he was a worker that wanted his money.”
She said Menefield was yelling that he had a gun. While some of the customers ran out in fear, others just froze.
“I was scared, and I was panicking because people come and shoot stuff up every day at restaurants,” Williams said. “Everybody was just like looking, ain't doing nothing, stop eating their meals and looking at him to see if he's going to pull a gun, because he said he was going to shoot the worker.”
Williams said police arrived within minutes.
“First thing they did was search, when they went outside, and there were no weapons,” she said.
Menefield was arrested for aggravated menacing. Williams says she did not find out what the fuss was all about until after the police showed up.
“A hamburger... wow,” she said, shaking her head.
The general manager of the Steak N’ Shake sent us a statement:
“Our goal is to constantly serve our patrons the highest quality burgers and shakes along with extending them great service at the lowest possible price. We regret the police had to be involved in this incident and we thank the police for their professionalism in this situation.”
In response to this incident, the South Euclid Police Department posted a Facebook message on what to do when you're not satisfied with your food at a local fast food restaurant.
South Euclid Police Chief Kevin Nietert said the list is obviously common sense. However, he says he wanted to add a little humor to the situation, while also sending a reminder to customers about remaining calm during stressful situations.
