Thirteen-year-old Kassidy Jones was in a California McDonald’s restaurant when she was allegedly brutally attacked by a strange woman while employees just “stood and watched,” the girl’s mother is complaining in a lawsuit against the fast food company and the alleged assailant.
The incident occurred on September 6 when Jones stopped by a McDonald’s in Southern California’s Harbor City with some classmates after school, the New York Post reports.
“I am heartbroken that my innocent daughter was beaten,” said the victim’s mother, Angelina Gray, to FOX 11. “McDonald’s staff and managers did nothing to intervene. They all stood and watched.”
Disturbing footage from the event shows a large crowd of bystanders recording the attack on their cell phones, watching as a larger adult woman appears to whale on the smaller teen, dragging her across the floor and targeting her face with repeated blows.
Jones said that the woman targeted her for “looking” at her.
“What the F are y’all looking at? I fight kids. I fight you,” Kassidy recalled the strange woman saying to her before she attacked.
The only person who appeared to try and physically separate the attacker from the victim was a man who reportedly was with the suspect.
Gray called the police and took her daughter to the hospital, where she was treated for her injuries. Photos taken after the incident show painful bruising and swelling on her face.
Jones said she did not know the suspect, who was later identified as 31-year-old Ariana Lauifi. Laufi evaded arrest until she was tracked down by police and taken into custody on September 28 on suspicion of felony child abuse, the local outlet reported.
Now, Gray is suing both Laufi and McDonald’s.
“McDonald’s has an obligation to provide a clean and safe place for its customers to dine. Kassidy’s injuries could have been prevented, and she should have been given some form of help after the attack. This situation should have never happened,” the family’s attorney, Toni Jaramilla, said to FOX11.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the McDonald’s location’s owner and operator Tawnie Blade expressed her horror at the event that had reportedly taken place in her restaurant.
“We were horrified to learn about this violent attack, and our thoughts are with Kassidy and her family. Employees called police when the fight began, and we worked closely with local law enforcement to help with their investigation.”