Just-released video shows a Jack-in-the-Box employee shoot at a drive-thru customer, reportedly during an argument over missing curly fries.
According to a lawsuit filed by Houston attorney, Randall Kallinen, Anthony Ramos and his family ordered a combo meal at the restaurant near Bush Intercontinental Airport in March 2021.
Ramos, a Florida resident, was in Houston for work after the February freeze. He picked up his pregnant wife and daughter, who was 6 years old at the time, from the airport and stopped at the drive-thru for food. Fifteen minutes later, they were speeding off in an attempt to avoid gunfire.
In newly released video, employee Alonniea Fantasia Ford appears agitated with Ramos. He is in the driver’s seat, his wife is sitting in the front passenger seat, and their daughter is in the back seat. They paid $12.99 for a meal combo, the lawsuit states, but did not get the curly fries they ordered, prompting an argument.
Not even half way into the dispute, the video shows Ford ready a gun. Minutes later and with another employee at the window, she throws ice and condiments, before firing at least twice at the family.
“Jack-in-the-Box needs to do a background check on employees so as not to expose their customers to someone who would attempt to kill them,” Kallinen said in a press release.
The family filed the lawsuit in 2022. Kallinen recently received the video after a discovery request, he said.
The lawsuit claims Jack-in-the-Box was negligent for not keeping customers safe.
In its original answer, Jack-in-the Box denied all allegations and stated the restaurant has “no control” over and “is not legally responsible” for third parties, like Ford.
A lawyer for Jack-in-the Box did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ford is also named in the lawsuit, which seeks at least $250,000 in damages.
Ford was initially charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of deadly conduct. She got a sentence of one year deferred adjudication and completed it in June, court records show.
Kallinen will discuss the video and the lawsuit during a news conference scheduled outside the restaurant on JFK Boulevard on Tuesday. The family is expected to attend.
