A McDonald's manager lost an eye after an-ex employee's father reportedly assaulted him with a rake in Missouri. It marks the latest in a series of violent attacks at fast-food chains.
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- A McDonald's manager lost an eye after being attacked by an ex-employee's dad, KPLR reported.
- The victim was beaten with a 5-foot-long rake and now wears a prosthetic eye.
- A Missouri man has found guilty of the attack and is facing 30 years in prison.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
A Missouri man faces 30 years in prison after he was found guilty of attacking a McDonald's manager with a rake. The victim subsequently lost an eye and now wears a prosthetic one, KPLR reported.
The incident, which took place in Chesterfield, Missouri, on January 9, 2019, occurred after a dispute involving the defendant, Kendell Cooks, who said his daughter was fired by the manager in question.
There has been a recent uptick in violent attacks taking place at fast-food and drink chains. This month, police said they arrested two customers for a shooting at a Memphis Burger King restaurant after they were reportedly served a chicken sandwich with too much hot sauce, per Insider's Grace Dean.
In another similar incident, a Florida man was accused of pulling a gun on a Starbucks employee, who turned out to be the local police chief's daughter, over not having cream cheese for his bagel.
The McDonald's attack in Chesterfield, Missouri, led to Cooks, 38, being charged on three counts of first-degree assault, armed criminal action, and a felony count of property damage.
It all began after a McDonald's employee – Cooks's daughter – was dismissed by her manager, Jeffery Jackson, for reportedly not wearing the standard work attire and using improper language in front of customers, per KPLR.
Cooks claimed the manager shoved his daughter out the restaurant door but this was contradicted by video footage, according to St. Louis County Circuit judge Nellie Ribaudo.
Following the firing, Cooks and several others then drove to McDonald's and beat Jackson, who was sitting in his car during a lunch break. They used a 5-foot-long rake obtained from nearby trash as weapons.
KPLR reported that the attack was filmed in part on Jackson's dashboard camera, and that glass and blood was found inside the victim's car after the offense.
Jackson had to undergo five surgeries to repair his vision but still ended up losing an eye, per KPLR. "It was a very dangerous crime, a life-threatening crime," Sam Alton, chief of staff for Wesley Bell, the prosecuting attorney of St. Louis County, told the outlet.