A Florida man who was captured on video attacking a female McDonald’s employee was sentenced to jail by a judge.
Daniel Willis Taylor, 40, pleaded guilty to two counts of battery on Feb. 26, court records obtained by 10 News on March 7 indicated.
He was sentenced to 60 days in jail but was credited with the 58 days he had already been locked up.
In addition to the jail time, the judge ordered Willis to stay away from the two women involved in the incident, which took place on Dec. 31, 2018.
A Pinellas County judge ordered 40-year-old Daniel Willis Taylor to stay away from the restaurant, credited with the 58 days in jail he already served and must also pay a $1,000 fine.https://t.co/Mb5aMjLjsK
— Fox 35 News (@Fox35News) March 10, 2019
According to the Tampa Bay Times, he was also hit with $1,000 in fines or nearly 120 hours in community service.
St. Petersburg police officers said that Taylor grew irate about the lack of straws at the restaurant and attacked an employee.
He acted out, reaching over the counter and grabbing Yasmine James, 20, by the shirt. He jerked her forward to him.
James, a former boxer, punched the man several times, eventually forcing him to let go of her.
According to St. Petersburg police, Daniel Taylor reached over the counter and grabbed a McDonald’s employee by the shirt. The incident was captured on cell phone video and posted on Facebook by TJ Biandudi. https://t.co/4WVnxuT7WO pic.twitter.com/P8S4FBf3Mk
— Spectrum Bay News 9 (@BN9) January 2, 2019
A witness identified as Kinie “TJ” Biandudi filmed the altercation and shared the shocking footage on social media.
“The young girl was heard saying she used to box. After this fight he came back and went behind the counter and tried to fight the manager,” Biandudi wrote on Facebook.
People in the background are heard asking for the police as the woman pummels her assailant and demands that he “stops playing with her.”
As the confrontation broke up, another employee escorts the visibly upset James out back, while the manager comes over to ask the customer about his order, before peering at the receipt.
James returns to the counter and as she looks on the ground for her phone, a battered Taylor screams, “I want her [expletive] fired.”
#stpetepd arrested Daniel Taylor on 12/31 shortly after a video was taken at a St. Pete McDonald’s of a tussle over straws. Taylor grabbed an employee who defended herself by punching him. He was charged w/ 2 counts of simple battery – he kicked another employee on his way out. pic.twitter.com/0OTgLCvHvH
— St. Pete Police (@StPetePD) January 2, 2019
But the woman yelled back a reply: “No, you’re going to jail!”
Taylor then hurls another insult at the woman, and the clip comes to an end.
Millions of people viewed the video.
On Facebook, a woman believed to be Taylor’s mother posted after the attack that her son had been “homeless for some time” and “hasn’t been able to find a job.”
“My problem is he called me last night about 6:30 pm,” wrote Doraetta Hesse. “He had been beaten and robbed. He told me he was going to call 911.”
The woman said she tried to call and text, but her son did not answer.
“I haven’t heard from him since. I have called 3 area hospitals with no luck,” she said. “They said if they find his body they will let me know.”
She was alerted to the news story and a man believed to be Taylor’s brother said his mother received the information.
Biandudi told Fox2News that the altercation started over a straw.
“He was yelling and walking toward the counter and the young lady behind the counter told him that it’s the law now that we’re not allowed to have straws in the lobby,” she told the news outlet.
“They started exchanging words laced with profanity and he said there’s no such law that exists and she was saying yes it is a law,” said Biandudi.
The new law went into effect on Jan. 1 in St. Petersburg and says restaurants can’t put straws out for customers to take at will. People must instead request straws.
Plastic straws will, by 2020, be completely phased out.
James, the employee, held a press conference about a week after the attack and thanked supporters.
James told supporters that she would fight to stop violence in the workplace and wants McDonald’s to add training to protect its employees.
James told 10 News that she didn’t know if Taylor was armed when he grabbed her.
“He grabbed me and that really scared me because I didn’t know if he had a gun or a knife or what,” James said. “When he grabbed me, my main thing was to get him off of me the best way I knew. Just let me go.”
She said she learned to box as a teenager.
Epoch Times reporter Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
