Kent County prosecutor declines to file charges in alleged Burger King assault on teen employees

KENT COUNTY — Kent County Prosecutor Christopher Becker announced in a press conference Friday, Sept. 9, he will not file charges against David Zambrana, who allegedly attacked and seriously injured two teenage girls over a spilled beverage at a fast-food restaurant in Wyoming over Labor Day weekend.

More:Teens suffer lacerations, broken jaw after Labor Day weekend assault at Wyoming Burger King

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“By no means am I condoning (Zambrana’s) behavior," Becker said. "This could have been avoided if he would have simply just driven away after not getting the service that he wanted at this Burger King, but he didn't do so and we have to deal with the facts as they are and there's just not a basis to file charges for this incident."

The alleged assault happened Sunday, Sept. 4, at the Burger King on 28th Street near Michael Avenue SW in Wyoming.

Becker called Zambrana's behavior "abhorrent," but he also called the actions of Burger King employees "aggressive," saying there's blame on both sides for the brawl. During the press conference, he showed security video of the incident, which showed Zambrana jumping the counter and pouring drinks throughout the lobby.

Becker said, if the incident ended there, Zambrana likely could've been charged with creating a disturbance in a business. But the manager threw an iced coffee, which — he said — created problems. After a drink is thrown directly on an employee, the workers pursue Zambrana through the door — and what happened after, the sides disagree.

The teens say they were trying to remove Zambrana from the building and lock the door. Becker said the employees pursuing Zambrana at all, and potentially kicking or displaying aggressive behavior, negated his ability to file charges.

"When people engage in a fight like this, that's not assault," he said.

Family and friends of the teens, however, expected charges to be filed and an arrest to be made, according to a GoFundMe account created for the employees. The account is managed by Cecilia Harrison, aunt of 17-year-old Burger King manager Isabela, who suffered lacerations and other injuries in the alleged attack.

"I would like to remind everyone that we have never said the girls were perfect in this situation," Harrison wrote in an update Thursday, Sept. 8, before explaining the teens used bad language, threw ice and cold drinks (in response to Zambrana doing the same) while "calling him a ham and teasing him about his feet."

Harrison said the employees' actions were "in response to (Zambrana's) violent behavior striking fear into them" and said, though it may look as though Isabela is following Zambrana, she is attempting to physically lock a second set of doors leading to the parking lot to keep the assailant out.

"I guess that's open for interpretation," Becker said. "If anybody is the aggressor, it was the initial female going through the vestibule doors."

"Again, these girls' responses may not have been perfect, however they are teenagers who were in the process of being verbally and physically assaulted," Harrison wrote. "To them, in their panic, rushing to lock the doors as he was leaving was the best decision they could make at that time."

Isabela told WOOD TV-8 her 15-year-old coworker asked for help after Zambrana threw his cup through the drive-thru window at her, telling her to “clean this (expletives).” Isabela said when she tried to give him a new cup, he slapped it at her.

“It splashed all over me," she said. "It splashed all over the outside of the window, the counter. And then we thought it was over. That happens all the time. People slap cups like that all the time. Oh well, you know?”

But rather than leave, Zambrana drove around the building and walked into the restaurant, asking for his cup. Isabela told WOOD she said Zambrana could get his drink outside.

“‘What do you want us to do? You basically slapped it out of all of our hands and you were very rude to us. So, what do you want us to do about it?’"

Isabela said Zambrana then jumped behind the counter, grabbed a stack of cups and started filling them up and pouring them out, all over the walls and floor.

"Like, just throwing a tantrum," she told FOX-17.

Zambrana agrees he went behind the counter, but told WOOD he did so because he believed they'd "done something" to his drink.

“You guys are making me wait," he said. "I don’t know what you guys did to this cup. I don’t want to drink this drink. I’m just going to come in and get my own."

When the employees tried to force him from the building, they said, Zambrana punched, kicked and body slammed Isabela so forcefully she blacked out. Isabela told FOX his final punch to her forehead required 11 stitches. She also suffered a cut above her eye, bruising on her neck from choking and a bruise on her thigh.

Harrison said Thursday her niece had to return to the hospital Wednesday for recurring migraines, swelling and pain in her left eye. She was treated for "a small formation on her left eye" and an infection.

Meanwhile, the 15-year-old employee suffered a broken jaw, several broken teeth and permanent nerve damage after running to Isabela's aid, and had to undergo reconstructive surgery Monday afternoon.

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“I have like five teeth cracked and he knocked out one in the back,” the teen, who asked not to be identified, told WOOD. “I’m on a full liquid diet for six weeks straight. No solid food. I can barely open my mouth.”

Both the employees and Zambrana claim they contacted police following the attack. Zambrana told WOOD officers came to his house, took down his story, snapped photos of a minor scratch to his back and a cut on one foot, and left.

“I was running from kids that didn’t look like kids, and I got hit and I just had to get out of there,” he said. “How could I get out of that situation when I’m being pounded on?”

But the 15-year-old disagrees.

“He’s trying to claim self-defense from a bunch of minors. Are you kidding me?” she said. “There’s just no excuse for what he did.”

— Contact reporter Cassandra Lybrink at cassandra.lybrink@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on Instagram @BizHolland. WOOD TV-8 contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Kent County prosecutor declines to file charges in alleged Burger King assault on teen employees