A KFC manager in Belleview was arrested for allegedly throwing a rock at a customer’s pickup truck following an argument that spilled into the fast-food restaurant’s parking lot.
On Monday, April 13, a Belleview Police Department officer was dispatched to the KFC located at 5120 SE Abshier Boulevard in Belleview in reference to a verbal altercation. Upon arrival, the officer spoke with a manager, identified as Ocala resident Jacob Charles Lancaster, who advised that a male customer was “not happy with the wait time for the food,” according to the arrest report.
Lancaster told the officer that the customer/victim “yelled at staff members.” When the victim started to leave the fast-food restaurant, he allegedly called Lancaster a racial slur.
In response, Lancaster advised that he followed the victim into the parking lot while they “continued exchanging words.” When the victim began driving away in his truck, with the driver’s side window rolled down, Lancaster reportedly threw a rock that struck the vehicle.
According to the victim’s statement, he admitted to yelling at staff members and calling Lancaster a racial slur. When the victim was attempting to leave the parking lot, he alleged that Lancaster “ran toward his truck and threw a chunk of broken asphalt at his head, but missed and struck the truck.”
The victim advised that the incident occurred next to the restaurant’s drive-through menu.
The report stated that the victim’s truck had sustained damage below the driver’s side door handle that was “approximately the size of a quarter” and “appeared to have been caused by an object striking the vehicle with a sharp edge.”
The damage to the victim’s truck was estimated at approximately $500.
On Tuesday, April 14, the officer returned to the KFC and reviewed video surveillance footage from the time of the incident. On that footage, while the victim’s pickup truck was stopped near the drive-through menu, Lancaster was allegedly observed throwing an object in the direction of the vehicle, according to the report.
Moments later, Lancaster reportedly walked out of the camera’s view and the victim drove away.
After reviewing the footage, the officer made contact with Lancaster inside the KFC and placed him under arrest. Lancaster was then booked into Marion County Jail, and he was released two days later after posting bond.
Jail records show that Lancaster is facing charges of throwing a deadly missile at a vehicle and criminal mischief (over $1,000). He is scheduled to appear in a Marion County courtroom at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 19.