Senior Beaten at Carl's Jr.
No One would call 9-11

Peter Jones, who is 72-years-old was at Western Avenue and 5th Street east of downtown Los Angeles last year and he was hungry for his favorite sandwich, a Carl's Jr. fish burger. It was lunchtime so he drove into the Carl's Jr. fast food restaurant at that corner. (I have been at that restaurant several times) So Pete, who still has a little English accent from the time he came to the US from Great Britain in the 50's, stood in line to get a fish burger.

It was about 1:10 pm on January 17, 2002, and the restaurant was packed. The person waiting in line in front of him was an African American man about 6' 3" tall and 220lbs. Pete is a white male about 5' 7" tall and 175lbs. The big man appeared to be angry and was saying in a loud voice, "I hate (F)ing white woman, I hate (F)ing white women." He then turned and yelled this into Pete's face. Pete says he stepped back a little and said nothing. Then the large man yelled again in Pete's face, "I hate you white man." Pete says he did not respond. The man then knocked on Pete's glasses and said, "Did you hear me?" Pete says he responded, "I just want to get a fish burger." The man then grabbed the 20-dollar bill that Pete was holding and stomped Pete's left foot with his combat boots. Then he slugged Pete in the chin. This knocked Pete to the floor of the restaurant. Pete tells me he was totally surprised and disoriented. Also he felt great pain in his foot that was stomped. The man then started stomping Pete in his ribs with his boots.
Pete says in the LAPD police report that he asked the restaurant counter people, (Carl's Jr. employees) to call the police for him. He said they watched but would not call 911 for him. He said no one moved to stop the beating. Pete says when the big man stopped kicking him he stumbled into a booth where he stayed to catch his breath and let his foot rest. He says there were many people in the restaurant at the time but no one came to his aid except small girl who brought him his broken glasses and napkins to wipe the blood off his face. The big man in fatigues took his order and sat down to eat. He continued to threaten Pete. Pete also continued to ask the staff to please "call the law." Pete said I sat there for about 15 minutes trying to get my breath and enough strength to walk to my car. The big man finished his food and left still yelling "I hate (F)ing white women." Carl's Jr. employees never called the police or 911 and would not let Pete do so. The next day Pete went to an LAPD station and filed a report. He also called the manager of the restaurant and asked him why he would not call 911 for him? Pete says the manager told him they were very busy and he had to take care of his customers. Pete says he told the manager, "I was a customer and you sure did not take care of me." A doctor treated Pete for his foot injury, his bruised ribs and his cuts and bruises. One year later Pete is still having problems with his foot.

David Castenholz is now Pete's attorney and he is taking legal action against Carl's Jr. Attorney Castenholz says Carl's Jr. has refused to even pay for Pete's medical costs. He says they have received a letter from Carl's Jr.'s insurance carrier and it says they conducted an investigation and say there were witnesses and "the unknown assailant was not acting in a threatening or crazy manor to bring employee's attention to the incident." Then the letter goes on to say, "The incident was broken up by an employee and your client left the restaurant without giving our client the opportunity to assist your client." Pete told me that the letter was a lie. He says not one broke up the "incident" or beating, and he was in the restaurant for 15 minutes after the beating. The letter says nothing about why the employees did not call 911 and the police.

Caroline Leakan a vice president for public relations for CKE Restaurants Inc. the owner of the Carl's Jr. Chain told me there is a policy procedure manual in all the stores that advises employees to call 9-11 if there is an emergency. She said the manual covers other actions that can be taken. Ms. Leakan said CKE could not comment on the case because it's now involved in legal action. She did say that some of the Carl's Jr. restaurants have security on duty but she did not know if they restaurant had security at the time of Mr. Jones' incident.

Pete told me there was no security guard at the restaurant at the time of his beating. I went to the restaurant at noontime June 5, 2003 to see if they now have security. I met a man at the door of Carl's Jr. and he said he was the Regional Manager; I gave him my business card and told him what I was investigating. He would not give me his name and said he did not have a business card. I asked him if they had security on duty? He refused to answer. I check out the entire public area of the restaurant and I found not security guard. I asked one of the employees if the man (with no name or business card) was really a supervisor, and they told me he was. I asked him about the Jones beating and he said he couldn't remember it. I also asked him if they had the policy manual in the restaurant. He refused to answer. During my conversation with him he was always nice and had a smile on his face, but he claimed he did not know anything or he was not going to tell me anything. I informed him that there was no security and that there was a LAPD report on the incident. (The Los Angeles Police Report number is RD 0728.)

This is not the first time a Carl's Jr. restaurant has been involved in a case of refusing to let a person use the phone to call the police for an injured person. I covered a story for CBS-2 TV in LA about five or six years ago when a woman was shot in the head at a bank ATM. She had her three children in a van with her when a man tried to rob her and shot her in the back of the head. She managed to get her van into a Carl's Jr. restaurant parking lot. Her son ran into the restaurant and asked to use the phone to call 911 because him mother had just been shot in the head. The boy was told he could not use the phone because it was against Carl's Jr. policy. He asked if they would then call 911 for him to get paramedics. One of the managers said no. The little boy begged for help for his mother. Then the other manager said I will call for you. The other manager said no way. The second manager went ahead and dialed 911. The paramedics asked if the mother was bleeding from her nose and mouth, the little boy said I don't know I have been in here trying to use the phone. So the paramedic told the manager to send the boy out to check his mother. Plus the paramedic said then put the kid on the phone. But while the boy was checking on his mother the other manager hung up the phone. The fire department paramedics called back and were angry at the actions of the manager. When the little boy came back the paramedic demanded the manager put the boy on the phone. Finally the boy was allowed to talk to the paramedic. The Fire Department ambulance arrived and his mother was taken to a hospital.

When I talk to a Carl's Jr. spokeswoman on TV she said the entire matter was a misunderstanding of the companies policy about the public use their business phone. The Carl's Jr. spokeswoman told me they had changed their policy and would let people with emergency's use the phone or the employees could call 911.

GOOD NEWS: The little boy's mother did survive and she is now back to being mom to her three kids. But she says she will never go to a bank ATM after dark, and never do business with a Carl's Jr. Her son told me he still could not understand why those people would not let him call 911 to help him mom.

How did his mom get shot in the first place? She had pulled her van with her three kids in it up to the ATM machine at a bank. It was a little after 7 pm and it was dark in Southern California. As she started to get out a man appeared and stuck a gun to the back of her head and demanded her money. She told me that she told him that she didn't have any and that was why she had come to the ATM to get some money. She said she told him I will give you money. Then all of a sudden he shot her in the back of the head with a 38 cal. handgun and he ran off. She says she was still conscious and jammed her foot on the gas pedal and the van sped through the parking lot and down a street into a Carl's Jr. Restaurant lot that was well lit. She told her son to run in the restaurant and call 911. She told me that she thought she would pass out any moment. Thank the Good Lord that she pulled through after major medical treatment.

The Jones case is still working its way through the legal system. But the Major Question that has not been answered yet is WHY didn't an employee call 911 for help.

Filed June 2003.