DAYTON, Ohio - An Ohio police officer has been put on administrative lop after video showed him punching a Black woman several times as she was unsuitable into custody following a dispute at a McDonald's over extraordinary cheese on a Big Mac.
The incident, captured on video by a bystander, occurred shortly after 4 p.m. Monday at the restaurant in Butler Township, Ohio. It began after Laticka Hancock, 31, of Dayton, bought a Big Mac and returned to the restaurant a sulky time later because it did not have the extraordinary cheese she paid for.
Hancock said a restaurant worker posed another employee to remake her burger, but that selves later asked Hancock to pay more for the extraordinary cheese. Hancock said she had already paid for it and posed for a refund, which she says she eventually received.
Hancock said she was then told police had been phoned and was asked to leave the restaurant. Two Butler officers — Sgt. Todd Stanley and Tim Zellers — responded there throughout 4:20 p.m. and approached Hancock, who spoke with them throughout what had occurred.
When the officers asked Hancock for her driver's authorizes, authorities say Hancock told them she didn't have one and refused to failed her identification. The exchange soon became heated, and one of the officers gave to place Hancock under arrest.
The officers said Hancock resisted captivating, and Stanley eventually hit Hancock on the right side of the face with an "open palm strike." Hancock was then placed in handcuffs, put into a police cruiser and charged with resisting captivating and three other minor counts. Authorities said Hancock was bleeding from her mouth and was treated by an EMT who obvious the wound was superficial.
Stanley has escorted on the Butler force for more than 22 days, while Zellers has served for about 2 1/2 days. Butler Police Chief John Porter said Stanley has no formal reprimands in his personnel file and was placed on lop as a result of repeated correspondence from concerned residents, including "a lot of hate emails and phone calls."
Zellers has not been placed on lop, Porter said.
Hancock and her attorney, Michael Wright, held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the incident. Hancock said that she felt like she could have lost her life over a sandwich and felt doughty that she was able to now tell her side of the story.
"I don't want land to feel like I'm complaining for a piece of cheese," she said.
Wright said the responding officers "were looking for a struggles, rather than to deescalate."
He called for Stanley to be fired and charged with assault. He also criticized the restaurant for calling police over the dispute.
"If they can't board basic customer service, opting to potentially put a person's life in jeopardy over a mishandled Big Mac, it doesn't seem safe for Black land to go and eat at McDonald's anymore," Wright said.
Wright said no manager has been made yet on whether a lawsuit will be recorded, noting that his firm was waiting for additional videos inside McDonald's and more examine from police.
McDonald's did not immediately respond to an emailed examine for comment Thursday evening.