Warning: Disturbing content — A goon with a lengthy criminal history viciously assaulted a 15-year-old female McDonald’s worker — dragging her by the hair and repeatedly stomping on her head in the parking lot after a rowdy group of customers provoked a brawl with employees inside the restaurant earlier this month, according to cops.
Johnny Ricks, 25, was arrested for assault after he allegedly grabbed the teen by her hair and yanked her across the parking lot of the restaurant just outside St. Louis before bashing her head into the concrete and punching her in the face, St. Louis County Police said.
The girl, identified as Aryiah Lynch on a GoFundMe set up by her family, suffered a fractured skull, a broken nose and damage to her frontal lobe.
“This assault has been a life changing experience for her,” the teen’s mother Shawnunique Phillips wrote on the page set up to help cover her medical expenses, which has already raised $13,000 of its $15,000 goal.
“She is fighting hard to stay upbeat and heal but this is only the beginning of a very uphill battle,” her mother wrote, saying the incident “shattered” the family’s lives.
The cowardly April 7 attack was captured in a disturbing video posted on Facebook by Phillips, who wrote that Ricks should be charged with child endangerment or attempted murder.
The fight reportedly began when Ricks, accompanied by a group of unidentified adults, pulled up to the drive-thru window at the restaurant and began behaving obnoxiously, according to Lynch’s family.
“It was getting loud…and being obnoxious in the drive-thru, so we said, ‘if you want to get your order taken, step inside,’” the teen told First Alert 4.
The group then stormed inside the McDonald’s and started menacing the workers, throwing items around the restaurant, and spitting on “at least four” employees, she said.
St. Louis County Police said at one point Ricks became enraged and threw a food tray at an electronic menu screen, destroying it.
The brawl then spilled out into the parking lot, the video showing at least a dozen people, both men and women, grappling and throwing fists.
In the video, a man identified by police as Ricks, who towers over the teen, can be seen dragging her around the parking lot like a ragdoll before raising his foot to nearly waist height and bringing it down on the helpless girl’s skull.
“Getting stomped out by a grown man?” the injured teen later told the local outlet. “I wasn’t prepared for what was gonna happen.”
She was treated and released from the hospital after undergoing surgery, her GoFundMe page says she hopes to return to work soon.
Ricks’ rap sheet reads like a crime bingo card, with public records showing charges dating back to 2016 ranging from theft and fraud to excessive speeding, disorderly conduct and even littering. In April 2023 he was arrested for aggravated assault.
Ricks is currently being held at the St. Louis County Justice Center on charges of felony assault and property damage in the second degree. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 25, however it was not clear if he had retained an attorney.
“Ensuring the safety of both our employees and customers is paramount to me as a local business owner, and we have a strict workplace violence policy at my restaurants,” Jimmy Williams, the owner of the McDonald’s location where the brawl broke out told First Alert 4 in a statement.
“My team is fully cooperating with the St. Louis County police in their investigation.”
The St. Louis County Police told the outlet they are working with the North County Precinct to investigate the incident and actively working to identify more victims, witnesses and suspects.
Ricks is being held on $150,000 cash only, no 10%, bond.
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