An altercation between a waitress and customer at a Waffle House in Clarendon County got out of control yesterday, as shots were fired, people were assaulted, and waffles, well, they dun got cold:

An early morning run for breakfast at the Waffle House on Paxville Highway in Manning turned terribly wrong for Crystal Samuel.

“I thought I was gonna get me an All-Star,” says Samuel. A popular meal on the menu. “Grits, sausage, toast, eggs and a waffle,” says Samuel.

She didn’t get what she came for. Instead, she says while she waited for her order, her friends started eating. That’s when Samuel says she was told they couldn’t eat from carryout trays inside the restaurant.

“I said what is your fuss about. I said we haven’t paid for our food. She (Ward) said well you all got to leave. How you want us to leave and we ain’t paid for the food yet,” says Samuel.

That’s when it got ugly. Samuel says she threw a waffle at the waitress. “I did actually throw some food but it didn’t hit her,” says Samuel. “That’s when she (Ward) jumped across the counter and we got into it,” says Samuel.

Clarendon County Sheriff Randy Garrett says the altercation continued outside where he says Ward got a gun from her car and a gun magazine from her trunk.

“It’s poor judgement on her part trying to settle this matter with a weapon. either way she had time to think about what she was doing when she was walking to her car,” says Garrett.

Investigators say Ward’s gun discharged during the altercation. They say a bullet fragment struck Samuel in the arm.

“Deputies were close by when they rolled up in the parking lot the victim and the suspect were still engaged in a fight,” says Garrett.

Before it ended, authorities say Ward struck the victim in the head with the gun.

“She got the last lick,”says Samuel. Meanwhile Ward has bonded out of jail. On Tuesday afternoon, News 19 found her inside the Waffle House where the incident happened.

She declined to talk to us on camera but says she got out of jail after paying $500. As for Samuel, she has only one thing to say about Waffle House. “bad customer service,” says Samuel.

Scenes like this are more common that you would think. I once got into an altercation with a Swiss Chalet waitress because the lemon wedge she gave me in the cup of hot water at the end of my meal was too small. I ended up stabbing her  in the neck with a pitchfork, it was bloody gruesome. Let’s face it though, sometimes unfettered, ramped-up, anger-fueled violence is the only way to settle minor food disputes. I’m pretty sure it says as much in the New Testament.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 at 4:30 am and is filed under absurd. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.