HOMESTEAD, FLA. (WSVN) - Police are investigating after a fight at a Dairy Queen in Homestead led to several arrests.
Miami-Dade Police responded to a disturbance call at the fast food restaurant, located in the area of Campbell Drive and Southwest 147th Avenue, at around 6 p.m., Tuesday.
Officials said the issue was between store manager Belinda Ahwach and an underage employee.
According to the employee, she and Ahwach are usually kept on different schedules.
However, that was not the case on the day of the altercation.
She said they got into an argument during her shift on whether her break should be 45 minutes or less than that.
“I told her that I’m not going back on break because I did my break already,” the employee said. “That’s all I said. She came around and she was like, ‘Oh, you gotta go home.’ So I’m thinking I’m just going home cause she probably got mad or something. I’m on the phone with my mom at the time. My mom said she was coming.”
“When I came, I approached Mrs. B and asked her, ‘What’s the problem? What did my daughter do to you to have a problem?'” Alicia Hodge said.
Surveillance video captured the moment Hodge confronted the store manager.
She’s seen reaching over the counter during the altercation.
“I flipped her glasses,” Hodge said. “She threw whatever the display was that was on the counter. She threw that at me.”
After the exchange, Ahwach could be seen on surveillance grabbing hot oil from the fryer.
She then follows the mother and daughter outside and tosses it in their direction.
Almost immediately after, fists start flying between all three of them and a teenage relative of the employee joins in.
When police arrived to the scene, they arrested all four involved.
Hodge, the employee and relative were charged with simple battery.
Ahwach was charged with aggravated battery and aggravated assault.
The two teens haven’t been identified due to their age.
Dairy Queen released a statement that said both the employee and manager have been terminated.
The statement additionally said, “The safety and well-being of all DQ employees and customers is our top priority. We do not tolerate or condone any behavior that endangers employees or our valued fans…”
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