Miami woman arrested after McDonald’s drive-thru assault over order dispute

A routine request for extra items at a Palmetto Bay McDonald’s ended with a worker allegedly threatened, tapped in the face and backed up by a witness video, then with a Miami woman in jail and ordered to stay away from the restaurant.

Police said Andrea K. Houston, 53, was arrested after the confrontation at the McDonald’s at 18295 South Dixie Highway. The worker told Houston the order was complete and that anything else would have to be paid for, according to investigators. Houston then allegedly grabbed a piece of wood from her car, shouted at the worker and threatened to hit him before leaving the scene.

The dispute was reported to have happened either Dec. 25 or Dec. 27, 2025, depending on the account. A witness recorded the exchange, and the worker later identified Houston in a photo lineup. Deputies eventually took her into custody during a traffic stop. Houston was charged with burglary with assault or battery and resisting an officer without violence.

Local 10 reported that the drive-thru area where the employee was working was not open to the public and was designated for employees only. The outlet also said Houston had prior convictions, including felony battery and battery on a law enforcement officer, firefighter or corrections officer. After her arrest, she told deputies she is “always under the influence of narcotics” because of medications she takes.

By Tuesday afternoon, Houston was being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on $8,000 bond, placed on house arrest and ordered to stay away from the victim and the McDonald’s. For crews, the details matter because the confrontation happened at the window, where workers are expected to move orders fast while managing angry customers, cash and close contact with the public.

OSHA says drive-thru workers can face workplace violence because of cash, late hours and public interaction, and McDonald’s says it has a workplace violence prevention program that includes e-learning for managers and crew, workshops and special training for restaurants with specific challenges. The company says its Global Brand Standards require all 39,000 McDonald’s restaurants to maintain incident reporting and workplace violence policies and training.

The Palmetto Bay case fits a broader pattern. A 2019 National Employment Law Project report said media had covered more than 700 incidents of workplace violence at McDonald’s stores across the United States in the previous three years. For managers, the message is blunt: a drive-thru complaint can become a safety incident in seconds, and the backup systems around the window matter as much as the speed of service.