Tampa Man Hurls Drinks at Wendy's Drive-Thru Staff, Tries to Grab Cash Register

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) is seeking a man who leaned in the window of a Wendy’s drive-thru in Tampa, Florida, and threw drinks and straws at staff before trying to grab at a cash register.

Security footage released by the sheriff’s office shows a vehicle pulled up outside the Wendy’s located at 6917 N 56th Street near Del Rio late on Sunday, August 2.

Two staff members behind the drive-thru window observe the vehicle as it pulls away from the window but stops again a few feet ahead. Two people get out of the car, including the suspect, who exits the driver’s side door, and appear to talk to other people in the parking lot.

Moments later, the suspect, identified by HCSO as 26-year-old Kelvin Barnes, walks back toward the window, leans in and begins grabbing at drinks and a box of straws inside the window and hurling them inwards. He then pulls the cash drawer from a register but drops it on the floor. As he tries to reach down to it, four staff members rush towards him. Barnes pulls back out of the window and staff close it behind him. He is then seen shouting and banging on the window, before one of the passengers in the car leads him away.

The sheriff’s office said: “A Wendy’s employee told deputies the suspect and his unidentified passengers became belligerent while placing their order and got out of their car.”

Barnes, who faces charges of burglary, criminal mischief, and petit theft, drove away in a gray 2020 Nissan Maxima that was later found to be an unreturned rental car, the sheriff’s office said. Credit: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office via Storyful