A Pennsylvania man was captured on camera slapping a Burger King employee in the face after going on a furious tirade, and it didn’t take long for the footage to go viral.
Twenty-one-year-old Austin Addison was apparently having a very bad day when he entered a Burger King in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and his rage was allegedly projected onto an innocent fast-food worker. While standing near the counter, Addison allegedly went on a furious tirade, prompting a witness to pull out their camera, capturing what happened next, according to the NY Post.
In the video, which was posted on Twitter, you see a man — later identified as Addison — standing inches from an employee’s face. He’s obviously angry and upset about something. He’s heard ranting about a female employee who he claims “can’t count except for robbery and stealing stuff.” Angrily, he demands, “She needs to get the f–k out of here before I get her put in jail for the rest of her life.”
Apparently trying to diffuse the situation, the startled-looking male employee reminded Addison that he was on camera. “Sir, you are on camera right now,” he said, but his words definitely didn’t have the intended effect he had hoped for. Rather than helping calm the man, who was already seething, it seemingly pushed Addison over the edge.
In the now-viral video, Austin Addison draws back and slaps the worker square in the face without warning, capping off his on-camera tirade. After striking the stunned employee and knocking his glasses off of his face, Addison quickly made his way to the door. With his antics captured on camera, however, he wouldn’t get far. But first, the video.
https://youtu.be/DjYVy-fonO8
Although the short clip doesn’t show what led up to the angry outburst, a witness reportedly told TMZ that Addison entered the Pittsburgh Burger King, looking for a female employee whom he apparently knew. The witness also claimed that Addison first threw his keys, prompting the witness to attempt to calm him down. When Addison allegedly didn’t respond to the de-escalation attempt, the camera started rolling.
The outlet also initially reported that Addison went on a racist rant, but later said that didn’t appear to be the case. Oddly enough, Daily Mail seems to tell a slightly different story altogether, alleging that Addison hit the worker after accusing his colleague of making his nuggets too spicy.
“A Burger King customer was caught on camera slapping an employee after it was alleged his nuggets were made ‘extra spicy,'” the outlet reported.
There was apparently another detail TMZ got wrong, as well. After reporting that Addison was fired, the outlet issued a correction. “It was previously believed Addison was fired from his job at Harbor Freight Tools for the slap, however, a rep for the company tells us that while they don’t condone his actions, Addison was no longer an employee there at the time of the incident,” an update to their article read.
Either way, the incident left onlookers shook. “I was honestly very shaken up at how he did that, I happened to console the poor guy but I was too shaken up to do anything,” explained Garret Reams, the person who reportedly filmed the footage, according to Daily Mail.
Although he bolted from the Burger King, cops later caught up with Austin Addison, charging him with harassment, disorderly conduct, and criminal mischief, which carries a possible punishment of up to two years behind bars and a fine up to $5,000 if convicted.
Regardless of what led up to the angry outburst, it obviously wasn’t worth it. This is the perfect example of how to take an upsetting situation and make it so much worse. Whether it was over a personal conflict or extra spicy nuggets, violence isn’t the answer. Unfortunately for Austin Addison, he had to learn that the hard way. Now, he has a rap sheet and a viral video he will struggle to live down.
