Police Arrest Man For Stealing Food, Chasing McDonald’s Manager With Chainsaw
“It seemed like a scene out of a movie or something,” one eyewitness says of the incident
Alice Sweet [WCSH/Westrbrook PD]
Police arrested a chainsaw-wielding man in Maine after he allegedly caused panic at McDonald’s by hopping behind the counter, revving the tool and stealing food and a beverage.
Alice Sweet, 26, entered the fast-food restaurant in Westbrook with the chainsaw around 3:30 p.m. on January 26, the Westbrook Police Department said in a statement, according to Portland’s WCSH.
After Sweet left, he allegedly created more chaos outside when the restaurant’s manager confronted him in the parking lot, police said.
“It seemed like a scene out of a movie or something,” one man who had been in the drive-thru lane at the time told WCSH.
The McDonald’s employee, the eyewitness continued, “had actually done a full circle around my car with the guy with the chainsaw behind him revving it up, kind of chasing him around my car.”
Sweet also allegedly damaged two vehicles with the chainsaw, which he eventually set down on the ground before walking off.
Law enforcement officials said Sweet tried to flee from responding officers but they were able to apprehend him in the parking lot of a nearby business. The suspect was taken to a medical center for a mental health evaluation, according to WCSH.
Sweet faces charges of robbery, criminal mischief, refusing to submit to arrest, and violation of conditions of release. In an unrelated incident last spring, Sweet reportedly was charged with theft by unauthorized taking or transfer and aggravated criminal mischief.
"What happened in our restaurant yesterday was troubling and disturbing,” McDonald’s franchise owner Taylor Goble said in a statement. “We are thankful none of our crew members or customers were harmed.”
