What started as a quick fast-food stop turned into a terrifying ordeal for a Tennessee mother and her three children.
Kristin Gillia was sitting in the drive-thru line at a Burger King on Winchester Road in Memphis Monday night when she realized part of her order was missing.
“They forgot the fries,” she told local station WREG. “They said you can pull up. I said let me order a cheeseburger too, I want a little something-something. They said, can you pull around and come inside?”
Gillia parked her recently purchased 2007 Ford Edge — a vehicle she said she had bought just four days earlier — and went inside with one of her children. She left her two other kids in the SUV, telling them to lock the doors.
Moments later, chaos erupted.
Her children suddenly ran into the restaurant, panicked, telling her someone was trying to steal the car.
Gillia bolted back outside.
“I ran around and opened the door, and I tried to insert myself into the situation,” she told WREG. “I just got the car. Me and my kids need it.”
According to reports, she tried to grab her phone but was shoved aside. One of the suspects allegedly yelled, “Put it in drive,” before the SUV sped off. In the process, authorities say the vehicle ran over Gillia’s foot. One of her children was also reportedly pulled from the SUV and pushed to the ground.
Police later arrested Alexis Kearney, 31, and Antonio Alexander, 25, in connection with the attack. Kearney is charged with carjacking. Alexander faces felony charges of theft of property and theft of a firearm, along with misdemeanor charges of aggravated assault and assault, according to court records.
A witness reportedly discovered a gun at the scene. The stolen Ford Edge was later found parked on a nearby road, according to local station WHBQ.
Gillia and one of her children were treated at a local hospital.
Alexander appeared in court Friday. Kearney is scheduled to undergo a mental evaluation on March 12.
For one Memphis mom, a simple stop for fries turned into a night she and her children will never forget.
Mental evaluation? Just kick the shit out of both of them.