Following an argument Oct. 30 with a 16-year-old Tim Hortons drive-through employee over a denied request to add to her order, Dusty Leigh Jackson, 41, of Lincoln Park, had coffee thrown at her and her vehicle by the worker at the coffee shop at 13843 Northline Road in Southgate.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
SOUTHGATE – A conflict at a drive-through window between an employee and customer over an order add-on Oct. 30 escalated to a coffee toss at the Tim Hortons, 13843 Northline Road.
The customer, Dusty Leigh Jackson, 41, of Lincoln Park, who asked for a 10-piece order of Tim Bits, or doughnut holes, at 3:05 p.m. at the drive-through window when she moved forward to pick up her coffee order, was told by the 16-year-old employee, a juvenile whose name was not released, that the order add-on was not possible.
An argument ensued, with Jackson admitting that she called the employee the b-word when she closed the order window. The employee reportedly then reopened the window and threw the coffee order at Jackson and her vehicle.
The coffee temperature was warm, not dangerously hot, due to the amount of cream which had been added to the beverage, and Jackson was not burned by the unexpected coffee toss. She later reiterated to police that she was uninjured, and declined medical treatment by first responders.
When the customer pulled over and waited after placing a call to police, she saw another vehicle arrive to pick up the 16-year-old employee, who left the coffee shop before police officers arrived.
Police officer body-worn camera footage documented the coffee splashed on the exterior of Jackson’s vehicle and on her face and clothing. An adult passenger in her vehicle, 49-year-old George Emory, corroborated Jackson’s account of the incident, as did another 16-year-old employee of the Tim Hortons restaurant.
Jackson said she wished to press simple assault charges against the employee. She was later granted a copy of the body-cam footage, from which a still image of the coffee spill aftermath was obtained, which began to circulate in the media.
The employee witness told police officers that it is the coffee shop’s policy to deny order add-ons at the drive-through window when the order line is busy. She verified that she saw and heard the interaction, including the b-word insult.
Police officers reviewed the store’s surveillance camera footage at the drive-through window, and obtained the employee’s name and address from her store employee file.