Newly released footage shows the moment a Jack In The Box drive-thru worker shot at a family of three — including a 6-year-old girl and her pregnant mother — after an argument over curly fries.
The fast food employee, identified in legal papers as Alonniea Ford, whipped her gun out and fired at the car carrying the family as the driver sped away during the March 2021 dispute, surveillance footage shows, according to an ongoing lawsuit that was filed last year.
Seconds before shots rang out, Ford furiously threw ketchup packets and other items at the driver, identified as the pregnant woman’s husband Anthony Ramos.
Ramos then tossed items back at the worker while another employee tried to intervene at the Houston location, according to the footage.
After the shocking shooting, Ford walked away and then returned to the window where she casually cleaned up the mess, the footage shows.
The footage is part of a 2022 lawsuit filed against Jack In The Box and Ford. Ramos and his wife are seeking more than $1 million in damages.
The violence was sparked when Ramos drove up to the eatery after picking up his wife and child from the airport.
Ramos, a Florida resident, was there to help restore power in the Lone Star State city in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and his pregnant wife and daughter flew from Miami to meet him there.
“The incident shook the family up so much that Plaintiff Anthony Ramos quit his contracting job in the Houston area and returned to Florida,” the lawsuit states.
“The plaintiff saw that after he received his order from Ford, it was missing curly fries, leading to the escalating argument,” the lawsuit states.
Ford was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to the lawsuit.
She later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor deadly conduct, according to legal papers provided by the family’s lawyer.
“Jack-In-The-Box needs to do background checks on employees so as not to expose their customers to someone who would attempt to kill them,” the family’s lawyer Randall L. Kallinen said in a statement.
“These rage cases are getting out of hand in Houston.”