Viral video of McDonald's brawl in DeKalb leads to filing of charges

DeKALB – A video that’s gone viral of a brawl at the McDonald’s on West Lincoln Highway has actually helped police charge the instigator and her boyfriend with battery, DeKalb police Cmdr. Steve Lekkas said.

In the video of the July 3 incident at 805 W. Lincoln Highway, an off-duty employee, Jillian L. Tucker, 24, is seen grappling and pulling hair with another employee behind the counter and slamming into equipment, as well as another employee trying to keep the off-duty worker's boyfriend, Corey D. Campbell, 30, away from the fight.

The boyfriend, however, tosses her aside and joins the fray before, seconds later, he and his girlfriend exit the kitchen. All the while, all parties involved are yelling and swearing at each other as customers and other employees look on.

The fight happened at 10:13 a.m., DeKalb police Cmdr. Bob Redel said. The McDonald’s is right across the street from the police station.

The video can be seen on YouTube, and Lekkas said officers started seeing it on social media Thursday. They'd already seen surveillance video from the restaurant and questioned everyone involved, Lekkas said, but this video helped clear up conflicting reports.

“I’m not sure why they sat on it a month before posting it,” he said. “Obviously, we’re glad they did.”

Redel said warrants were signed and issued Monday morning in DeKalb County court, both for battery charges and with $3,000 bond attached. Tucker and Campbell both live in the 700 block of North Annie Glidden Road. Court records show July 5 – two days after the brawl – Campbell pleaded guilty to domestic battery in DeKalb County court and was ordered to attend a domestic violence diversion class.

Lekkas said the department was prepared to charge Tucker with battery in the July 3 incident before the latest video surfaced, but that officers wanted to wait until they had the whole story before obtaining warrants.

“We were comfortable with half of the charges, because we were able to use the McDonald’s surveillance video,” Lekkas said. “We always want to finalize everything and get the whole story before we do a half-completed investigation.”

Lekkas said Tucker and the other employee seen fighting in the video have an ongoing dispute, and that narratives on various websites that have shared the video are false.

Lekkas said it’s still unknown who originally shot and posted the video, and that anyone who captures suspicious or downright violent behavior on camera should come forward.

“With videos, we encourage people to come forward, if you have a video,” Lekkas said. “As long as people are cooperative, we’re not going to seize your phone. We just need a copy of the video.”