EL CAJON, Calif. (KGTV) — Surveillance video captured a fast food customer misbehaving at an El Cajon Jack in the Box, as an angry customer jumped through the drive-thru window.
“It doesn’t feel real,” said Alex Herrera-Rios, 19.
Herrera-Rios watches the surveillance video and looks twice.
“There’s no way this could happen to me,” Herrera-Rios said.
Last Friday night, just before midnight, Herrera-Rios was working as a cashier and fryer at the Jack in the Box on Chase Avenue.
“We were in the back, talking, after a rush,” Herrera-Rios said.
Suddenly he heard screams at the drive-in window.
Herrera-Rios showed us the surveillance video he submitted in a police report.
@abc10news CAUGHT ON CAMERA: An employee at El Cajon’s Jack in the Box shares his harrowing experience when a customer climbed through the drive-thru window, demanding a cheeseburger and a Coke. #crazy #scary #horror #scary #fastfood #elcajon #sandiego #news #relatable #foryoupage #viral #video #surveillance #sandiego10news ♬ original sound – ABC 10News San Diego
“We heard a guy open the window and start yelling, banging his metal water bottle on the window… He was halfway out the window, yelling, ‘Ultimate Cheeseburger and a large Coke!’” Herrera-Rios said.
Herrera-Rios told the man he had to leave.
“That’s when he got really angry and that’s when he jumped at the chance,” Herrera-Rios said.
After jumping out of the window, the man is seen confronting Herrera-Rios and a colleague.
“He said, ‘I want an Ultimate Cheeseburger,’ and swore at me,” Herrera-Rios said.
Moments later, the man is seen lunging at Herrera-Rios.
“When I looked him in the eye, I saw anger, open pupils,” Herrera-Rios said. “I had my hand out and I was pushed against a wall.”
What happened next is not visible, but Herrera-Rios says that at one point the man grabbed a fryer basket that was dipped in hot oil.
“He threatened to throw it at me. That’s when I got scared. Oh, he could really hurt me,” Herrera-Rios said.
The man did not throw it away, but instead threw paper towels.
“He just walked into the dining room. My co-worker said, ‘Don’t worry. We’re going to get you an Ultimate Cheeseburger.’ … Instead, we called the police to come get him,” Herrera-Rios said.
Herrera-Rios said the incident made him nervous and wary of some customers.
“The majority of our customers are great people. They’re a minority. People are more aggressive. They get more aggressive, get out of their car and say, ‘I’m going to beat you up.’ I’ve had people spit on me. I’ve had coworkers get guns pulled on them,” Herrera-Rios said.
For customers who think they are being unruly, he has this message.
“I’m just here to work… OK, be frustrated. Don’t attack us,” Herrera-Rios said.
ABC 10News has reached out to El Cajon police to see if the man has been arrested and what charges he may face, and is awaiting a response.
