Off-Duty Cop Saves Wendy’s From Man With a Sledgehammer

on February 15, 2012 at 1:59 PM

french fry There's a certain hysteria that accompanies almost every fast food experience. Maybe it's the glorious scent of fries being cooked in gallons of oil that makes us lose our minds a little bit, but there's definitely something that sends us into an irrational frenzy when our order gets messed up. The struggle is usually internal -- the furthest most of us go is to say something to the cashier like Excuse me? Sorry. I ordered a cheeseburger. This is chicken nuggets. -- but when the fury is not compartmentalized and we forget to remind ourselves to calm the eff down, things can get out of hand. Case in point: a man attacked a Wendy's with a sledgehammer.

The 45-year-old perp was so frustrated with what went down at a Wendy's in Ohio that he got up, went across the street to a Home Depot, bought himself a six-pound sledgehammer, and returned to take his anger out on the burger joint's windows.

Fortunately, no one was hurt. Double fortunately, there was an off-duty cop in the drive-thru. He heard the commotion and decided to act fast. Officer Mike Fleming tackled the hammer-wielding criminal to the ground and wrestled his weapon away from him, in the meantime yelling at customers to stay back.

The man never told the cop what pissed him off specifically about Wendy's -- he just said that Wendy's was making him mad. Backup for Fleming eventually arrived and the man was taken to a nearby hospital to treat the cuts on his hands and was then taken to a psychiatric hospital to be evaluated.

It's lucky that Fleming likes Wendy's and was getting himself a meal when all this went down. Without his quick thinking and fearlessness (how terrifying it must have been to approach a mad man with a sledgehammer!), who knows what could've happened. When someone is as unhinged as the perp was, it's hard to predict the amount of damage that could've been done.

So kudos, Officer! You saved the day. Hope you at least get a free value meal or something.

What's the craziest thing you've ever seen happen at a fast food joint?

Photo via waferboard/Flickr

About the author Lindsay Mannering

is a blogger, a pub quiz connoisseur, and a spicy food athlete.

Filed Under: in the news

Comments (5)

billsfan1104

on Feb 15, 2012 at 2:23 PM

I get scared of things like this because my daughter works at Wendys. Two weeks ago, they were getting ready to close and someone came throught the drive thru, right before closing. They made the burgers fresh and had them made fresh. They got pissed at the workers and threw the burger at the manager. I was watchign the whole thing. I am so glad that they didnt throw the burger at my daughter, because I would of chased him down and try to kick his ass.

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Nonmember comment from jessica

on Feb 15, 2012 at 2:56 PM

there was one time my mom went thru the drive thru at whataburger and told them no tomatos on her hamburger...when she started down the road and relized they had put tomatoes on it she turned around went inside, threw the tomatoes on the counter, and said "here, you can have these!"....normally she wouldnt have done that but she had pms haha thank goodness i wasnt with her cuz i def wouldve been embarrassed but now i find it funny as hell! lol

Nonmember comment from Kitty

on Feb 15, 2012 at 9:43 PM

I work at a takeout only kfc. Once a woman came in asking if we cld charge her phone so she could text for a lift. While she was waiting for her "drive" she informed me that she gave "massages"

Nonmember comment from GeekyMommy

on Feb 16, 2012 at 10:30 PM

I was at a Jack in the Box with my then 18 month old when a white man and a Mexican woman (didn't speak English very well) walked in. He was very loudly cursing at her, calling her horrible names, and just being a complete asshole to her. From what he said, it sounded like she had told him she was hungry and that's why they came in. He apparently wasn't eating and made her feel like total shit for it. They both had rings on so I'm pretty sure they were married. He just kept going on and on while they waited for her food. He continued when they sat down as well. She kept apologizing in broken English. I felt so horrible for her but I was there with my little girl and if I had said something to him...well, it would have been bad. I mean, if he would talk to his wife that way, what would stop him from taking a swing at me? I live in South Bay San Diego so there are a lot of immigrants here. My first thought was that she probably married that jerk to get citizenship. really scary.

Facebook comment from Ken Kellam III

on Feb 25, 2012 at 6:52 AM

Once at Jack in the Box with a friend (who is now an FB friend) and someone was apparently irritated that they left the pickles on his burger and started throwing them at the outside glass, one by one. Since someone had recently gunned down a bunch of people at a Luby's, my friend and I were afraid he would come in and start shooting.