PALMETTO BAY, FLA. (WSVN) – A South Florida woman was arrested in connection with a December confrontation at a Palmetto Bay McDonald’s where she allegedly struck an employee with a piece of wood.
Fifty-three-year-old Andrea K. Houston faces charges of burglary with assault or battery and resisting an officer without violence following the Dec. 27 incident.
Monday’s arrest occurred more than three months after the initial dispute at the restaurant, located at 18295 South Dixie Highway.
Investigators identified Houston as the suspect through witness video and a photographic lineup before taking her into custody during a traffic stop in Cutler Bay.
According to a Miami-Dade Police Department arrest affidavit, Houston became upset at the drive-thru window because she believed items were missing from her order. The employee explained that the order was complete and she would have to pay for any additional items.
The worker told police that Houston escalated the dispute by grabbing a piece of wood from inside her vehicle and threatening to hit him. While yelling, the arrest report states, Houston reached toward the window and tapped the employee in the face with the wood.
Investigators said the wood entered through the threshold of the drive-thru window, an area restricted to employees.
An anonymous witness recorded the incident and provided investigators with the vehicle’s tag number. Records showed the Toyota Yaris was registered to Houston.
On Monday, an investigator spotted Houston driving the Yaris southbound in the northbound lanes of Southwes 100th Avenue. Deputies conducted a traffic stop and took Houston into custody.
Houston appeared in bond court Tuesday, where she was ordered to stay away from the McDonald’s. She was placed on level 3 house arrest, and her bond was set at $8,000.
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