HOUSTON – A Miami family visiting Texas got a major scare in 2021 after they said a Houston fast food worker opened fire on them during a dispute over missing curly fries.
The video was released this week as part of a lawsuit filed by Jeraldin Ospina and her husband Anthony Ramos.
Ospina said she and her 6-year-old had just landed in Houston to meet up with Ramos, who was in Houston working on a job to restore electricity after Hurricane Harvey, and stopped by a Jack in the Box restaurant near the airport for some food.
The lawsuit claims Ramos’ $12.99 combo was missing its curly fries and requested to speak to the manager after the worker, Alonniea Fantasia Ford-Theriot, refused to provide the item.
She then threw “threw ketchup, ice and other items” at the workers before pulling out a gun and firing at the family as they drove away. No one was hurt.
“She’s aiming, she’s leaning, she’s not just going up in the air trying to scare people, she’s trying to kill them,” the family’s attorney, Randall Kallinen, told Houston media outlets.
Ford-Theriot was initially charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of deadly conduct, completing a one-year sentence of deferred adjudication in June, Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported.
The station reported that in its response to the lawsuit, the chain denied all allegations against it and said it has “no control” over and “is not legally responsible” for third parties, like Ford.
KTRK later interviewed Ford-Theriot, who’s also named in the lawsuit. She defended herself against the allegations.
“I’m not an angry person. (I’m) not a mad monster out here. I’m just a woman trying to work for my family,” she told the station. “I’m not going to pull out no gun and shoot at somebody over no curly fries. Come on.”
The family seeks at least $250,000 in damages from the chain, claiming the incident caused the family “substantial emotional distress, anxiety, nervousness and fear.”
Ospina and Ramos have since moved their family from South Florida to Texas, Kallinen told Local 10 News.
Read the lawsuit: