When Anthony Ramos and his family had a hankering for Jack in the Box’s curly fries, they didn’t know that the craving would lead to being shot at and the filing of a lawsuit.
Anthony and his family were in town visiting Houston, TX where the altercation took place.
Ramos, on a contract job – had just picked up his pregnant wife and 2 year old daughter from the airport after they flew in from Miami, FL.
They stopped for a quick bite at Jack in the Box and that’s where lunch went belly up.
After placing his order at the drive-thru which included the curly fries, Anthony found that they were not in the bag. Naturally, he told the worker that they were missing.
Even though he had already paid for the fries, he offered to pay again but was told, “No.”
“When they asked to get curly fries, they were denied, and keep in mind, there’s no car behind them. So, there was no rush to get them out. They offered to pay for the curly fries, even though they had already paid for it already, but the answer was no. Pretty soon there was shouting,” said Randall Kalinen, the family’s attorney.
Records from court documents state that Alonniea Ford was manning the drive-thru and became enraged once Anthony asked for the manager.
She proceeded to lobb an array of items into the car.
Ketchup packets, utensils, ice – whatever she could get her hands on…were sent careening from the drive-thru window and at the family pulled up alongside it. She was cursing and shouting at them all the while.
It’s not clear what it was about the curly fries that set her off but what happened next was terrifying.
Alonniea took out the literal big guns and began shooting at the family.
“It was more of a panic mode at that moment. I’m lucky that I saw it when I saw it and I was able to pull off when I did and then my initial reaction was to call the police,” Ramos said.
Court records state that she was arrested and plead guilty to deadly conduct.
After the incident, she had a man come pick the smoking gun up from the scene, and he was charged with carrying a weapon.
According to the newsobserver.com – Ramos filed a lawsuit against Jack in the Box, franchise A3H foods and the worker who shot at him and his family.
“Jack-In-The-Box needs to do background check on employees so as not to expose their customers to someone who would attempt to kill them,” Kallinen said in a news release. “These rage cases are getting out of hand in Houston.”
The family filed a lawsuit, seeking relief in the form of $250,000 to $1 million for mental suffering, medical bills, lost wages, and legal fees.
In a world where even curly fries can be the catalyst for violence, the Ramos family is likely to be on guard for quite a while after this incident.
