Gainesville Police arrested a local man Monday after he stole the business keys for a McDonald’s and tried to get away in his car, dragging the manager with him.
Officers arrested 23-year-old Gasuel Perez on hit-and-run charges, according to an arrest report.
At about 4:40 a.m., Perez started arguing with the manager over a poorly made cup of coffee, GPD spokesman Officer Ben Tobias wrote in an email. Perez then stole the business keys from the manager. As Perez tried to flee in his car, the manager chased him and held onto part of the car door.
Perez drove off anyway and dragged the manager a short distance through the parking lot, Tobias said.
A husband and wife from Georgia were eating a meal in the parking lot of the restaurant, located at 6003 West Newberry Road, during the incident. The wife said she thought it was a lovers’ quarrel at first.
She noticed the manager yelling, “He got my keys! He got my keys!” she said.
The manager suffered from several scrapes, scratches and bruises on her arm, leg and back. She later required medical care, Tobias said.
Officers booked Perez into the Alachua County Jail at 6:42 a.m. As of press time, his bond had not been set.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 4/1/2014 under the headline "Man steals McDonald’s keys, drags manager in parking lot"]
