In 2021, Anthony Ramos and his family were ordering a meal at a Houston Jack in the Box drive-thru when a restaurant employee opened fire following a dispute over curly fries.
On Sept. 26, Ramos’ lawyer, Randall Kallinen, released footage of the harrowing incident, according to 7 News Miami. The family has also taken legal action against the disgruntled employee, identified as Alonniea Fantasia Ford.
According to a lawsuit filed in 2022, Ramos – a Florida resident— was in Houston for work in March 2021 when the incident occurred. After he picked up his wife, Jeraldin Ospina, and their then 6-year-old daughter from the airport, the trio stopped at a Jack in the Box location near Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Ramos ordered a No. 2 combo with curly fries and paid $12.99 for the meal, but Ford grew angry when the patriarch asked to receive his missing curly fries.
In video footage of the dispute, Ford can be seen arguing with Ramos – who was sitting in the front seat. According to the suit, Ford “refused to fulfill the order” that Ramos paid for, Law & Crime noted.
The complaint claims that the angry Jack in the Box employee yelled “Get the fuck outta here!!” as Ramos pled for the worker to give him his curly fries. According to the suit, his wife– who was pregnant at the time— was sitting in the front passenger seat, and their daughter was seated at the back of the vehicle during the dispute.
The two traded a few words before Ford slammed the drive-thru window closed, reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small silver handgun, cocking the trigger away from the window. Minutes later, another colleague appears and tries to assist Ramos.
For over two minutes, Ford’s colleague tried to assist Ramos with his order, but the duo continued to argue throughout the mediation.
The argument escalated after Ford threw condiments and napkins at Ramos. Out of retaliation, the Florida resident splashed his drink on Ford and her co-worker.
Hoping to cool the tension, Ford’s co-worker shut the drive-thru window door, but moments later, Ford pushed the window open and reportedly fired two shots at Ramos and his family as they sped away from the restaurant.
In the complaint, Ramos and his family accused Jack in the Box of negligence.
They claimed that the Houston-based restaurant should have “conducted background checks and proper investigations of its employees so that they only employ individuals that can provide a safe environment to customers.”
The trio also accused the restaurant of failing to provide “sufficient” safety protocols that “prohibit the carrying and bringing weapons to its restaurants so that they do not represent any danger to the patrons,” the suit noted.
“Jack in the Box needs to do a background check on their prospective employees and a manager needs to intervene if an employee escalates an argument with a customer,” Kallinen said in a statement to Law & Crime.
Ramos and his family are seeking over $1 million in monetary relief.
Court documents obtained by 7 News Miami show Ford was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of deadly conduct. She was sentenced to one year deferred adjudication, which she completed in June.
During a press conference Tuesday outside of the Houston Jack in the Box where the incident occurred, Ramos told reporters that he “offered to pay” for the missing fries during his dispute with Ford.
“I said listen, I will keep what I have and pay for the other ones, or I can just drive back around. She didn’t want any part of it. She just said we weren’t going to get them and that was it,” he said.
His wife, Ospina, added, “It was a very scary moment. Somebody could have gotten hurt.”
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