HOUSTON, Texas (AFP) - A woman who drove over a McDonald's employee, breaking her pelvis and causing her serious internal injuries in a row over a hamburger, has been jailed for 10 years.
AFP Photo
"I sure hope it was worth it, because you'll have 10 years to think about it," US District Judge Brock Thomas said Thursday as he handed down the sentence to Waynetta Nolan in district court.
The 37-year-old was convicted of aggravated assault in connection with the April 23 incident in which she flew into a violent rage when denied mayonnaise on her cheeseburger and ran over the restaurant manager in the restaurant's parking lot.
"I was going through a bad time in my life," Nolan told jurors during the penalty phase of the trial. "I was having a lot of problems."
Judge Brock said the case was one of the most absurd he has ever seen. "I can't imagine or think of anything more ridiculous than this. It all happened over a hamburger."
The spat began when Nolan was told mayonnaise was not an option with McDonald's cheeseburger. When Nolan became angry, the employee at the drive-through window at the McDonald's in suburban Houston encouraged her to pull her car around to the window counter and speak to the manager.
Witnesses said Nolan cursed and threw a cheeseburger back though the drive-through window.
When manager Sherry Jenkins offered a special-order cheeseburger with mayonnaise, witnesses said, Nolan complained her French fries had grown cold. After receiving new fries, she then demanded a new drink.
Unable to pacify the belligerent customer, Jenkins finally called police, who asked her to get the customer's license plate number, according to court testimony.
Nolan, who has a previous conviction for running her car into her ex-boyfriend's girlfriend, testified that she was unaware she had run over Jenkins.
She said she was putting ketchup on her burger when she heard a car horn, realized she was blocking drive-through traffic and hit the gas pedal. Running over Jenkins seemed like "a bump," she said.
Nolan sped away and drove head-on into one-way traffic. A driver followed and reported her license plate to police.
"I gave her everything she asked for," a tearful Jenkins told jurors Thursday. "I put mayo on her burger. I took off the onions and mustard. What did I do to deserve this?"
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What a DEMENTED woman!
12/02
Driver's License!)
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