An off-duty Texas sheriff’s deputy and his wife say a late-night stop at Waffle House turned into a violent nightmare after an argument over a parking space allegedly ended with both of them being brutally beaten.
Harris County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Joshua Kesler and his wife, Randel, are suing over the Sept. 28, 2024 incident outside Waffle House #1513 in Humble, about 20 miles northeast of downtown Houston.
According to an amended lawsuit filed Aug. 26 in Harris County, the couple arrived at the restaurant shortly after midnight on Kesler’s motorcycle.
The trouble allegedly started almost immediately.
Kesler parked next to a Jeep that the lawsuit claims was taking up two spaces. A female Waffle House employee then confronted the couple, allegedly yelling that she had parked that way on purpose and did not want anyone parking beside her.
The lawsuit says the employee became increasingly hostile and began making threatening remarks.
When she moved toward Randel in what the couple described as an intimidating way, Kesler allegedly stepped between the two women.
At that point, the Keslers say they decided it was best to leave.
But before they could get away, the lawsuit claims four men suddenly arrived in another vehicle and moved toward the couple.
The men allegedly separated Joshua and Randel before one of them punched Joshua in the face and knocked him to the ground.
The beating allegedly continued as he lay on the pavement, with the men repeatedly punching and kicking him.
Kesler says he suffered a fractured left eye socket along with cuts and scrapes to his knee and elbow and later sought treatment at an urgent care center.
His wife was also badly injured.
According to the lawsuit, Randel was hit in the head and briefly lost consciousness.
She was taken by ambulance to HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood, where doctors diagnosed her with a broken collarbone, a facial cut above her right eyebrow, a head injury and bruising to her right shoulder and knee.
The Keslers claim the four men showed up at the Waffle House employee’s request.
The lawsuit does not identify them by name, and it remains unclear whether they were Waffle House employees or simply people associated with the woman.
The employee herself is not accused of taking part in the physical beating.
However, the couple argues that she helped cause the attack by allegedly calling the men to the scene and should therefore be held responsible.
They also argue that Waffle House should be held liable for its employee’s actions.
The lawsuit goes even further, accusing Waffle House of negligence in hiring the woman. It claims she had previously shown aggressive behavior or other warning signs that should have raised concerns about placing her in a customer-facing job.
The employee has denied responsibility and offered a very different version of events.
In court filings, she claims any force used against the couple was justified as self-defense because she believed she was about to be attacked.
She also accused Joshua Kesler of provoking and escalating the confrontation and denied having control over the four men accused of beating the couple.
Waffle House has also denied responsibility for the injuries and has asked to be dismissed from the case.
The couple says the attack left them with physical injuries, pain, emotional distress and financial losses.
They are seeking punitive damages as well as compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, disfigurement and other damages.
Neither Waffle House nor the employee’s attorney reportedly responded to requests for comment.
The case remains a civil lawsuit, and the employee has not been criminally charged in connection with the allegations.
