GREENE COUNTY
It’s no secret that American consumers expect food orders delivered accurately and quickly, but sometimes service expectations can lead to conflict.
Less than a week after the new Dunkin’ Donuts store off Lake Oconee Parkway opened, a customer found herself riding in the back of a Greene County patrol unit after being arrested and charged with battery.
According to reports, Deputy Eli Franks responded to Dunkin Donuts on Jan. 24 in reference to a disorderly customer. Deputy Franks made contact with the store manager, who told him that a customer, later identified as 37-year-old Tara Stewart of Greensboro, threw boxes of food that struck an employee.
The manager said the incident started when Stewart asked for a refill of her drink while waiting for her food, and the manager told her the store does not give refills. The manager said she made Stewart’s food, but after she gave her the food, Stewart asked a different employee for a drink refill.
The manager repeated that the store does not do refills, which prompted Stewart to ask for a refund. The manager then said before she could give the refund, Stewart threw her food across the counter and one of the boxes hit an employee on the arm.
The Dunkin' Donuts manager told Stewart that she would not be getting a refund and was asked to leave the store. Stewart initially refused to leave, according to the report, but left before Deputy Franks arrived.
The manager was able to get the tag number of Stewart’s vehicle, and she was able to identify a picture of the registered owner of the vehicle as Stewart.
Franks spoke with the employee who was hit with the food and she said she was not injured.
Franks reviewed the security camera footage and observed Stewart and the manager exchange words before Stewart walked towards the register and tossed her boxes of food across the counter.
“It appears that one of the boxes stops suddenly and falls to the ground after striking [the employee] and the other box slides further across the floor,” the report reads.
The employee said that she wanted to press charges, and the store manager said that she would also like Stewart barred from the store.
Deputy Franks was able to contact Stewart by phone and met with her at her place of employment.
Stewart told Franks that she was waiting for a long time for the food she ordered, and when she was told she could not have a refill she lost her temper.
According to the report, “Stewart said that when she put the food down, she did not set it down, but she did not throw it, either. Stewart said that she did not realize she struck the employee with the box.”
Deputy Franks advised Stewart that she was under arrest for simple battery and transported her to the Greene County jail.