So this exemplary young man in Ohio pulled up to a Burger King drive-thru and ordered the following: 2 sausage, egg and cheese croissants, a sausage biscuit, and 2 hash browns. Any ideas how much that costs these days? Approximately $11 (£8.70), which is way cheaper than what I was expecting.
Anyway, the Burger King employee (38-year-old Howard Tim Vernon) only asked for $8 on this occassion. The reason behind that is that Burger King was running a promotion that morning, and the customers were getting $3 off for breakfast.
Now, if you were that customer and were just told a price that was less than you expected, you would probably say thank you. Or maybe you’d keep quiet about it, thinking that maybe the worker made a mistake and you don’t want to let on. But this guy? The idea of a discount sent him into a homicidal rage!
Burger King employee Howard Tim Vernon told CBS:
“To know that somebody would do something like that just because I’m trying to give you a better deal and it flip out like that, it is scary.
“He was like, ‘My order can’t be right it, it should be like $11,’ and I’m trying to explain to him that we had a promotion going on and, like, it’s cheaper. He started cussing and getting all loud, and I was like, ‘Well, I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t know why you want to pay more money.’”
The customer left, only to return with a cocked gun that he pointed at Howard as the employee was serving another customer:
“He’s just saying, ‘I should kill you, n*****.’ He just kept saying that. It’s just really crazy that somebody could do that. I’m thankful he didn’t pull the trigger.”
Sounds like Howard (who is black btw, in case anyone’s shocked of his quoting the N-word) is just baffled as the rest of us. Why the hell did this customer get so mad about being offered a discount at Burger King? OK, repeatedly saying “I don’t know what to tell you” to him was probably a big mistake, but ultimately you’d think even the craziest person with the highest propensity towards violence would settle for a a cheaper price. Instead, he left, then came back, and threatened to kill the worker while pointing a gun at him.
The only thing I can think of is that maybe he felt offended because he thought the Burger King worker was implying he was poor. Which, obviously, is still not a great reason to pull a gun on someone. Or maybe he got mad because he thought that the employee got his order wrong, because the price wasn’t matching to what he thought it would be? Again though, shouldn’t be a situation where someone nearly ends up shot in the face.
The worst part of the story is the reason The Willowick Police Department gave for not being able to track down the suspect:
“Unfortunately, the cameras only appear to catch the front of the vehicle at the Burger King drive-thru. And the state got rid of the front plate law a couple years ago, so no front plate. And we don’t have an identity.”
Great stuff. If they do get him eventually, the suspect faces a charge of aggravated menacing with a firearm. And – free food in prison. Which I’m guessing he won’t be too happy about.
To watch a Burger King manager KO an unruly customer with some of the finest camerawork you’ll ever see by an employee, click HERE.
