Woman Arrested In McDonald's Ketchup Caper

SANTA ANA, CA — Forget holding the lettuce; a suspect is herself in a pickle after being caught on camera assaulting a McDonald's manager. Mayra Berenice Gallo, 24 of Santa Ana, was arrested at an undisclosed residence Tuesday, after a countywide search for the woman who throttled a fast food employee over condiments.

Gallo ordered food through the drive-thru lane of the restaurant at 1400 N. Bristol St. about 11 p.m. on Oct. 27 and got upset about ketchup packets, SAPD Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

"She didn't enough ketchup so she takes it on herself to go through the employee entrance and confronts the manager and the manager says, `Hey, you have to go outside,"' and then the beating erupted, Bertagna said.

The suspect pummeled the woman employee until a man walked into the restaurant, intervened, and removed the suspect from the area, Bertagna said.

Gallo was booked into Santa Ana police jail on an assault warrant.

In the above video, the suspect is seen grabbing the employee by the neck and hair and slams her into the soda machine, sending cups flying and soft drinks skittering across the floor. All the while, a person inside a car waiting for their order watches in shock and awe.

Gallo is charged with single misdemeanor counts of obstructing or intimidating a business or customers and battery. She's being held on $15,000 bail.

When Gallo was arrested, she was about to get in a car with her boyfriend, who was seen in the surveillance video of the attack that police released while trying to track down the suspect, Bertagna said. The boyfriend was seen in the video interrupting Gallo's alleged attack and ushering her out of the restaurant.

Police received a "ton" of tips from the public when the video was released, Bertagna said, and one tipster supplied a name and address.

"We take these things seriously," he said. "There's no reason an employee in our city should take a beating over ketchup – it's ridiculous."

Related: Cops Want To Catch Up To Condiment Attacker

Santa Ana Police Video, youtube screen shot.