A fast food employee in Florida has been praised for rescuing a woman from an attempted carjacking.
The incident took place in the parking lot of a Chick-fil-A restaurant on Beal Parkway, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on Wednesday.
According to the Okaloosa Sheriff, William Branch, 43, of DeFuniak Springs was wielding a stick when he grabbed the car keys from a woman with her baby at the parking lot of the restaurant.
Branch got into the woman’s car, the Sheriff’s Office said. After hearing the woman screaming, Mykel Gordon, a Chick-fil-A employee, put himself at risk to help her.
In a video posted on the Okaloosa Sheriff’s Twitter account, Gordon is seen wrestling the attacker to the ground and immobilizing him. Other employees and people then arrived.
The video has got over 8 million views.
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
Branch is charged with carjacking and battery with a weapon. Gordon has minor injuries, according to News4JAX.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff wrote on Twitter, “We know there are other selfless individuals like the Chick-fil-A employee who stopped a carjacker. We applaud his courage—and remind folks with a servant’s heart—a law enforcement career is a special way to protect and serve. Reach out to us if you feel the calling.”
Chick-fil-A employees have previously also helped customers in need. In 2019, an employee retrieved a woman’s phone that had fallen into a storm drain. The woman shared her story on Facebook.
Other examples include a Chick-fil-A manager who sent a boat to rescue an elderly couple in Houston, an employee who ran after a car that had forgotten to take their order, and an employee who rescued a child choking in a drive-thru, the Daily Wire reported.
