Chick-fil-A employee thwarts carjacking at Fort Walton Beach restaurant

An attempted car jacking at the Chick-fil-A in Fort Walton Beach was thwarted Wednesday afternoon thanks to the quick reaction of one of the restaurant's employees.

According to a Facebook post by Chick-fil-A owner Matthew Sexton, employee Mykel Gordon was working Wednesday afternoon when he witnessed and stopped the attempted crime.

According to an Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office arrest report, a man identified as 43-year-old William Branch of DeFuniak Springs approached a woman who was getting an infant out of her car in the restaurant’s parking lot. Brandishing a stick, Branch demanded the woman's car keys. He then grabbed the keys from the waistband of her pants and attempted to steal her car.

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The woman's screams alerted Chick-fil-A employee Mykal Gordon, who ran to help. Branch punched Mykal, but he was not seriously injured and was able to subdue Branch until the sheriff's deputies arrived.

Gordon said that Branch had been involved in another incident shortly before the carjacking attempt. Branch was booked into the Okaloosa County Jail Wednesday on charges of robbery – carjacking with firearm or weapon.

On his Facebook post, Sexton posted a photo of the young man and praised Gordon.

"This is the HERO!, This is Mykel Gordon!" wrote Sexton. "At Chick-fil-A our mission is to 'Serve' and today Mykel took it further…to 'Save.'"

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Florida Chick-fil-A employee thwarts carjacking