Woman attacked by Popeyes manager after asking for a refund, police say

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (KMOV/Gray News) - A Popeyes manager in Missouri is facing a misdemeanor assault charge after allegations she repeatedly hit a customer in the lobby of the restaurant on Sunday evening.

Donna Kendricks, 53, said she went through the drive-thru at Popeyes in St. Charles, Missouri, to pick up food for a friend’s surprise party.

“They told me it would be 12 minutes for the chicken. They were out of the mild,” she said. “I told them, ‘Not a big deal,’ and they asked me to pull forward, so I did.”

Hendricks says that after 20 minutes, she went inside the store to check on her order.

“They told me ‘three more minutes.’ I said ‘Great,’” she said. “I went back out to the car because they told me to, [because] they’d bring it out to me.”

Hendricks says another 15 minutes passed, and she was going to be late to her friend’s party, so she went inside to cancel her order and ask for a refund. She said as soon as she stepped inside, an employee looked at the manager and said, “She’s back.”

Hendricks said the manager told the employee to “get her out of here.”

“[She said], ‘I don’t care if it’s raw or not, give it to her and get her out of here,’” Hendricks said. “I looked at her and I said, ‘Are you talking to me?’ And she said, ‘Yeah, b***h, I’m talking to you.’”

Hendricks said she was stunned at what the manager said to her, so she repeated what she thought she had heard back to the manager.

“I said, ‘B***h?” Really? I just want a refund.’ And that’s all it took. She started wailing on me,” Hendricks said.

Surveillance camera footage captured the store manager coming out from behind the counter, grabbing Hendricks by the hair from behind and repeatedly punching her, according to St. Charles City Police Department. Police do not have the video in their possession, stating the restaurant was unable to download the footage at the time of the incident.

“When she pushed me down, I went straight forward, and that’s when she kept nailing the back of my head,” said Hendricks.

Hendricks is not sure how long the alleged assault lasted but said her phone eventually fell out of her pocket and she was able to call 911.

When police arrived, the store manager was issued a summons to municipal court. The manager faces a simple assault charge. Authorities said a recent change in state statute requires officers to see visible injuries on the victim for the charge to be upgraded to third-degree assault, a felony.

Hendricks declined to go to the hospital Sunday night but went to the emergency room Monday morning. She says the doctor diagnosed her with a concussion, in addition to having knots on the back of her head and hair loss.

“The shift manager did tell the officer she lost her head over the incident. She has a lot of personal issues going on. What those personal issues are, we don’t know,” said Lt. Tom Wilkison of St. Charles Police Department.

Hendricks said an officer on the scene Sunday was able to process her refund, although she said she won’t be back as she fears for her safety.

“Everybody has a bad day, but I didn’t deserve that. Nobody deserves what happened to me,” Hendricks said.

Popeyes did not immediately respond to a request for comment.