A 25-year-old man with a history of criminal offences has been charged with assault second-degree after he viciously attacked a 15-year-old McDonald's worker during a brawl. The beating is alleged to have occurred after a rowdy group of customers arrived at the fast food joint on April 7 and began harassing the young employees.
Videos of the incident posted on social media allegedly show Johnny Ricks pulling Aryiah Lynch by her hair in the parking lot and assaulting her multiple times near the drive-thru of the restaurant.
According to the police, Ricks went into the establishment when Lynch was working her shift behind the counter. He got upset and threw a tray into an electronic menu. When other employees escorted him outside, he seemingly grew angry and pulled Ms Lynch to the ground and "stomped on her head twice''.
The attack left the girl with a concussion, fractured skull and frontal lobe damage.
The girl's family has set up a GoFundMe account to help cover her medical expenses. "My 15-year-old daughter and her teenage co-workers were assaulted at their place of employment. They came into the McDonald's and began to spit on my daughter and the young man at the cash register. The incident started in the drive-thru and escalated inside. The adults also began to destroy McDonald's property by throwing things and damaging the self-serve screens," Shawnunique Phillips, the teenager's mother, wrote.
"She is fighting hard to stay upbeat and heal but this is only the beginning of a very uphill battle," her mother wrote, adding that the incident "shattered" the family's lives.
Ricks is currently being held at the St. Louis County Justice Center on charges of felony assault and property damage in the second degree. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 25.
Meanwhile, Ms Lynch is currently out of the hospital and on bed rest, though she hopes to return to work.
McDonald's Operator Jimmy Williams said, ''Ensuring the safety of both our employees and customers is paramount to me as a local business owner. My team and I want to extend our sincere gratitude to the St. Louis County Police Department for their exceptional work."
