Burger King Death: Employee Charged With Homicide After Punching Customer

DETROIT — A 67-year-old man police believe was homeless died after being punched and knocked to the ground during a scuffle with a 20-year-old Burger King employee in Detroit, and authorities ruled the death a homicide Friday.

An autopsy determined Paul Cannon died from blunt force trauma to the head, said Dennis Niemiec, a spokesman for the Wayne County medical examiner's office. An earlier report suggested the punch may have caused Cannon to choke on his dentures, but Niemiec said the dentures played no role in the death.

The county prosecutor's office received a warrant request, and it was under review, according to spokesman Mark Bernardi, who didn't expect a charging decision to be made Friday. The employee was being held.

Police said Cannon was reportedly causing a disturbance Thursday afternoon at the restaurant on the city's east side and tried to hit the worker, who swung back.

"A verbal argument occurred," police Sgt. Eren Stephens said. "It escalated into a physical altercation."

Jerome Perdu, 59, of Detroit, works as a security guard nearby and said he was at the restaurant at the time. He said he didn't see the customer get hit, but watched as paramedics tried to revive him. The restaurant was crowded at the time, he said.

"I just seen him lying on the floor," Perdu said. "EMS was pumping him."

He died at a hospital, police said. Cannon's last known address was in Detroit, Niemiec said.

Earlier in the day, a sign on the restaurant's door indicated that only the drive-through was open, and a steady stream of customers pulled into the parking lot. A manager who opened the locked door said any comment would come from the fast food company.

Denise Wilson, a spokeswoman for Miami-based Burger King, said the franchise owner was cooperating with Detroit police.

"The safety and security of all guests and crew members is a top priority at all Burger King restaurants," she said in a statement.

Comments

[Mark Montgomery]

06:29 PM on 12/15/2010

Special orders don't upset us

[Jeronimo Dan]

01:17 PM on 12/14/2010

Came in for a hamburger and ended up with a knuckle sandwich, did you want fries with that?

[fourthestatepost]

06:14 PM on 12/13/2010

Holy Shit? Real life falcon punch?

[HolyKow]

12:45 PM on 12/13/2010

If the deceased attempted to strike the employee first, this should not be charged as Homicide...this should be Self Defense and it should go away.

hk

[nmeade56]

10:59 AM on 12/13/2010

How is this a homicide? Seems like self-defense, this is crazy

[Earl Davis]

08:09 AM on 12/13/2010

The crappy food would have gotten him sooner or later anyway.

[SwingingFromCenter]

05:18 AM on 12/13/2010

Nice to see the whackjob kosher, gluten free, macrobiotic vegan lifestyle mor.ons are out in full force in this thread trying to turn this story into a soapbox about how eating certain kinds of food is bad. Id.iots.

[SwingingFromCenter]

05:16 AM on 12/13/2010

"Police said Cannon was reportedly causing a disturbance Thursday afternoon at the restaurant on the city's east side and tried to hit the worker, who swung back."

So some old guy starts a disturbance and tries to hi.t the Burger King worker.  The kid, with much faster reflexes and no time to think, instinctively punches back to defend himself. 

I fail to see where the crime is in this.  How are you going to argue that the kid was trying to ki.ll the old man by punching him one time?   The old guy was in the wrong, he got a well-deserved hit to the head.  What happened afterwards is not that kid's problem.

[Bike Commuter]

10:36 AM on 12/13/2010

It really depends on the full situation. Think of two scenarios.
 
1. The man is visibly frail and his disturbance was based on a legitimate problem. His attempt to "hit" the worker was an attempt to slap the worker's hand away when the worker tried to grab him. The worker was much larger and reacted by getting mad and punching the man with excessive force.
 
2. Just the opposite. The older man was very physically fit and large. He was out of control and tried to attack the worker. The worker was scrawny and punched to protect himself.
 
There is a huge range of possible scenarios. I have heard many things called "creating a disturbance". Ditto for "tried to hit". It is impossible to tell from this story what really happened. I have seen workers in places like this get really aggressive, but I have also seen customers do the same.

[Jeronimo Dan]

01:21 PM on 12/14/2010

And it'll all be cleared up by a grand jury, in eleven months and 29 days...

[Schmaltzy the Golem]

10:18 PM on 12/12/2010

If you like Burger King,death by punching is a favor to society.

[mplspolitics]

09:28 PM on 12/12/2010

Detroit? Oh I'm so shocked.... Can we turn Michigan into a glass parking lot yet? Puhleeeeeze?!

[Edward Standley]

10:38 PM on 12/12/2010

Between about 1920 and 2000, Detroit, Michigan was the catalyst for the American middle class all across America. Parts manufacturing in many states existed to sell parts to the automakers. Don't kick 'em when they're down.

[Bandini]

08:20 PM on 12/12/2010

this sounds like self defense to me

[Edward Standley]

10:40 PM on 12/12/2010

Yep, pretty sad. No winners here. I've read too many times of a punch sending someones head into a hard object and causing death. Most often unintentional, but dead is dead.

[Earl Davis]

08:11 AM on 12/13/2010

I bet they charge him with involuntary manslaughter at the very least, regardless. It all might depend on their respective skin tones.

[ThinkCreeps]

05:29 PM on 12/12/2010

He was saving him from a certain death in consuming the product.

[gorglionelburger]

03:09 PM on 12/12/2010

Having worked in several fast food restaurants in my teens i can see how people can loose the plot and explode. There is no protection from customer abuse and couple that with the management driving you to make as many burgers and sales as possible it is an extremely stressful environment to work in especially during busy periods. I am amazed this has not happened many times already. These are not good places for young people just coming into employment.

[Patriot86]

07:40 PM on 12/12/2010

Sorry you can't punch your customers no matter how annoying they are.

[Havana Thinks]

08:39 PM on 12/12/2010

ThankU. Call the manager, call the security, take a break, call the police. The 20 yr old should have exercised self-control. This tragedy was avoidable if the employee had thought before Tysoning the no-name-allegedly homeless senior citizen!

[bruinlover09]

09:11 PM on 12/12/2010

You have the right to defend yourself. The customer took a swing at employee. So the customer is at fault for his own death.

[yesIcan]

03:09 PM on 12/12/2010

Apparently, he wasn't able to have it HIS way.

[Js420]

02:30 PM on 12/12/2010

At least this guys death was fast. all those people eating there will suffer a much slower eventually painful death.