Would You Want This Done To You?

A violent police encounter over a restaurant messing up an order.

The U.S. Justice Department and Ohio authorities are investigating an incident involving two Dayton area police officers and a woman. 

A customer at an area McDonald's filmed a cop serve a woman a hot plate after an encounter.

It all happened over a customer complaint which led to a trespassing order, a refusal to identify and thus a physical encounter.

Butler Twp. Sgt. Todd Stanley and Off. Tim Zellers responded at 4:20 p.m. to a call about a disorderly customer at the McDonald’s in Butler Township, a suburb of Dayton.

The customer, Laticka Hancock was upset that McDonald's messed up an order and demanded a refund. The manager called the police to have her banned from the restaurant. She said she will wait for the police to come. As they come, they at first started cordial but it turned into a verbal spat between Hancock, Stanley and Zellers.

When the officers asked Hancock for her driver's license, authorities say Hancock told them she didn't have one and refused to provide her identification. The exchange soon became heated, and one of the officers decided to place Hancock under arrest.

The officers said Hancock resisted arrest, and Stanley eventually hit Hancock on the right side of the face with an "open palm strike." Hancock was then placed in handcuffs, put into a police cruiser and charged with resisting arrest and three other minor counts. Authorities said Hancock was bleeding from her mouth and was treated by an EMT who determined the wound was superficial.

Stanley has served on the Butler force for more than 22 years, while Zellers has served for about 2 1/2 years. Butler Police Chief John Porter said Stanley has no formal reprimands in his personnel file and was placed on leave as a result of repeated correspondence from concerned residents, including "a lot of hate emails and phone calls."

Zellers has not been placed on leave, Porter said.

Hancock and her attorney, Michael Wright, held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the incident. Hancock said that she felt like she could have lost her life over a sandwich and felt lucky that she was able to now tell her side of the story.

"I don't want people to feel like I'm complaining for a piece of cheese," she said.

Wright said the responding officers "were looking for a fight, rather than to deescalate."

He called for Stanley to be fired and charged with assault. He also criticized the restaurant for calling police over the dispute.

"If they can't manage basic customer service, opting to potentially put a person's life in jeopardy over a mishandled Big Mac, it doesn't seem safe for Black people to go and eat at McDonald's anymore," Wright said.

Wright said no decision has been made yet on whether a lawsuit will be filed, noting that his firm was waiting for additional videos inside McDonald's and more information from police.

McDonald's did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Thursday evening.