Florida fast food worker foils would-be carjacker
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. -- An Okaloosa County Chick-fil-A worker temporarily tabled his fast food restaurant duties when he intervened to stop a man who was trying to carjack a customer Wednesday afternoon.
The scuffle between the suspect and the worker was caught on video by another customer waiting to be served.
"A major shout-out to this young man for his courage!" the sheriff's office said in a social media post.
William Branch, 43, of DeFuniak Springs, is facing charges of battery and carjacking in connection with the incident, which occurred at the restaurant at 743 Beal Pkwy., the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office said in a written statement.
According to investigators, a woman with a baby was exiting her car at the eatery when the suspect allegedly approached her while brandishing a stick and demanded her car keys.
In reference to the FWB Chick-fil-A employee who ran to help a woman with a baby who was being carjacked, we want to say a sincere thank you to Ms. Kelner for providing video of a portion of the encounter. (see prior post). A major shout-out to this young man for his courage! pic.twitter.com/2Lcwe46azv
— OkaloosaSheriff (@OCSOALERTS) September 14, 2022
The woman began screaming for help as the suspect grabbed her keys and entered the vehicle, prompting the fast food worker to come to the woman's aid.
The suspect punched the worker, who was not immediately identified, in the face but the employee was not seriously injured investigators said.