Pastor tried to shove McDonald’s cook’s head into deep fryer: police

• A North Carolina church pastor has been arrested for allegedly attacking a cook at a McDonald’s.
• He was called by his wife, a manager-in-training, who claimed the staff were “disrespecting” her.
• The pastor had to be restrained by staff until police arrived and he was charged with assault.

Police have accused a North Carolina pastor of attacking a McDonald’s cook and trying to force him into a deep fryer.

Dwayne Weiden, 57, was arrested on suspicion of assault Thursday after police were called to a McDonald’s branch on S. Main Street in High Point, North Carolina.

According to his Facebook page, Weiden is a pastor with Elevated Life International Ministries and works as a semi-truck driver.

He showed up at the fast food restaurant to help his wife, LaToya Gladney, a manager-in-training at the branch, according to police records reviewed by Business Insider.

Gladney, 44, had called her husband to help her deal with an employee who police told her was “disrespecting” her.

Police said that as soon as Weiden entered the restaurant, he walked around the counter and assaulted the 34-year-old cook.

“The suspect entered the McDonald’s on South Main Street, walked around the counter, put his hands around the victim’s neck and forced her head against the deep fryer,” police said in an investigation.

He is then accused of punching the cook several times, causing abrasions to his neck and “significant bruising” to his forehead and right eye.

Emergency services were called to the scene, but the family took him to hospital for treatment.

Police said Weiden did not stop assaulting the victim until several employees separated him from the victim and restrained him until police arrived.

After viewing security camera footage of the incident, the pastor was arrested and charged with assault.

A trial is scheduled for January 22nd, and bail is set at $1,000.

McDonald’s has previously faced several lawsuits from employees for failing to protect them from workplace violence.

Complaints include instances of customers pointing guns at employees, throwing objects and physically attacking employees.

“The events described in this complaint are neither coincidental nor unforeseeable,” the workers argued in their 2019 lawsuit. “Rather, they are part of a citywide and national pattern in McDonald’s restaurants.

McDonald’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI outside of normal business hours.