DAVENPORT, FL – What started as an impatient drive-thru order at 3 a.m. turned into what Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd called “a McMess,” after a McDonald’s employee allegedly defended himself with gunfire when two customers threatened to attack him.
Drive-Thru Dispute Turns Violent
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, 21-year-old McDonald’s employee Yoan Soto told two customers—Peter Story, 19, and Nicholas Jones, 18—that he couldn’t take their order because the store was “way behind” on online orders. Soto apologized, explaining it wasn’t his decision but management’s.
But instead of understanding, Sheriff Judd says the pair got angry. “They threatened to attack the man who just told them, ‘We’re busy, we can’t take anymore orders,’” Judd said in his video briefing. The sheriff added that Soto had every right to be concerned for his safety.
When the two young men parked, entered the restaurant, and continued to threaten violence—one allegedly mentioning a “switch” and a “30-clip”—Soto retrieved a firearm from his backpack. Surveillance video shows him pointing the gun as the men approached the counter.
The Moment It Escalated
The confrontation became physical, and according to investigators, one of the suspects tried to grab Soto’s firearm. Sheriff Judd said that’s when the shot was fired, grazing Story in the neck.
“It’s a blessing that it was a very minor wound,” Judd said. “But you know what? When you start shooting McGuns, you get people’s McAttention.”
After the incident, all three men fled the scene. Soto picked up his shell casings before leaving, which led to a tampering with evidence charge. Both Story and Jones were later arrested for trespass after warning and disorderly conduct.
Sheriff Defends Right to Self-Defense
Sheriff Judd noted that Soto was within his right to defend himself under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law:
“He has a right to stand his ground and protect himself, and these guys are threatening to do violence after they’ve already threatened on the outside of the store and came inside,” Judd said. “They created a well-found fear in him and the store manager. It was just a McMess, but we’ll sort it out because we are McGood at investigating McCrime.”
Judd criticized Soto’s decision to leave the scene, saying he should have waited for deputies—but reaffirmed that the self-defense claim was legitimate given the threats and aggression from the customers.
A Lesson in Self-Defense and Restraint
While the sheriff’s office continues to investigate, this case highlights the difficult situations many lawful gun owners face when defending themselves at work. The outcome could have been far worse had Soto not been armed when the threats turned physical.
In the end, nobody died, and the sheriff summed it up best: “It was just a McMess.”
What do you think? What was done right and what was done wrong in this situation? Let us know in the comments below.
Hopefully, they let Soto slide on the “Tampering With Evidence” charge. Maybe he had fired on ranges where you pick up your empty cases before leaving. Maybe he has friends who reload empty brass and he saved it for them out of force of habit. The two who came in to cause trouble were the problem, not Soto. I hope the chickensh-t charge against him is dropped.
Ah, here we have it – an innocent person accosted and his natural reaction, under stress, is to return to normalcy. He can not trust the authorities with his freedom so he leaves. he gathers evidence of his innocence because he has read how it can be used against you by the evil government. The fight is the easy part, dealing with the government is the hard part. I hope he got some McFood before he left.
HLB
Why is it that the video is blocked on Ammoland but I can copy and paste the line from the article and then watch it on another website?
I’ll bet that Ronald McDonald fired him.
And the moral of the story is: if you are going to carry a firearm get training, know the law and know post incident procedures. You don’t leave the scene of a vehicle accident. You don’t leave the scene of a violent incident. The only caveat is if you have to seek or render medical aid on an urgent basis. Then your actions are covered by urgency and cannot be construed as an attempt to conceal evidence.
The shell casings are evidence: Check. The expended shell casings don’t belong on the floor in the service area of a food-serving, very busy restaurant: Check. You don’t want anyone McSlipping and McFalling on shell casings while they’re trying to catch up with all their McOnline McOrders.
I didn’t know any McDonald’s were open at 3 AM and swamped with business. Davenport only has 9,000 residents.
Or … Soto left the scene to reduce the chance of a return visit and drive-by/mass shooting by the 2 initial aggressors who now had a greater grudge to settle and potentially had one or more Glocks with a switch and large for pistol magazines. By policing his brass he was preserving evidence where it have otherwise been lost or contaminated. I get the feeling Soto will be let off with a stern lecture.
Florida is my adopted State! FAFO and suffer the consequences of your actions!
Soto should have called 911 for LE to deal with the threats these guys made, especially the reference one allegedly mentioning a “switch” and a “30-clip”.
There’s no mention if 911 was called after these two threatened to harm Soto and before the gun was brought out.
Soto got too close to the two men, and both were able to get their hands on his gun.
The tampering with evidence charge is weak and Soto shouldn’t have left the scene.
He needs to take defensive shooting classes too.