Man accused in hot oil attack at McDonald’s in Yuba City pleads not guilty
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Jalani Jermaine Bluett is accused of throwing hot oil on his McDonald’s coworker.
- Prosecutors charged Bluett with assault with a deadly weapon, mayhem and battery.
- The injured employee suffered second-degree burns and was hospitalized.
A man accused of throwing hot oil on his McDonald’s coworker in Yuba City pleaded not guilty to felony assault charges as the hospitalized victim continues to recuperate from severe burns to his face, arm and back.
The Sutter County District Attorney’s Office filed a charge of assault with a deadly weapon or instrument other than a firearm against Jalani Jermaine Bluett, 23, in the attack last Saturday at the McDonald’s restaurant on Harter Parkway.
Prosecutors also charged Bluett with mayhem and battery with serious bodily injury inflicted, Sutter Superior Court records show. Bluett was arraigned Wednesday afternoon, when he pleaded not guilty to the three felony charges.
On Friday, Bluett remained in custody at the Sutter County Jail. He was being held without bail, jail records show.
Bluett is scheduled to return to court next Wednesday for further proceedings in his criminal case. The judge has also scheduled his preliminary hearing to begin next Friday, when prosecutors will present testimony and evidence for the court to decide whether Bluett should stand trial.
Jacob Smith, the 20-year-old man attacked at the McDonald’s, suffered second-degree burns to his face, arm and back, his mother Amber Smith wrote in a GoFundMe page. She started the online fundraiser to help her son with lost wages, along with the expenses and costs of his medical recovery.
“What should have been a normal day at work turned into a nightmare when a coworker assaulted him by throwing hot oil on him,” she said about the assault on her son last Saturday. “He was rushed for medical treatment and will be spending time in the hospital as doctors work to help him heal. He now faces a long and painful recovery process that will include ongoing medical care, treatments and time away from work.”
The fundraiser with a $14,000 goal had gathered nearly $13,000 in donations as of Friday. It appears Jacob Smith still doesn’t know why he was attacked at work.
“As his mother, it broke my heart when he looked at me and said ‘Why would he do this to me,’” Amber Smith wrote in the GoFundMe page.
The attack was reported about 11:15 p.m. at the McDonald’s just north of Highway 20 and about a mile west of Highway 99.
Amber Smith told the Appeal-Democrat newspaper that her son was working as the closing shift manager at the fast food restaurant, along with Bluett and another McDonald’s employee who was washing dishes at the time of the attack. She said her son was in the office at closing time when he was hit on his right side with something extremely hot. Bluett then allegedly ran away.
Officers responded to a call reporting someone had “been burned by a hot liquid” at the fast food restaurant, according to the Yuba City Police Department. Officers arrived and found the McDonald’s employee with significant burns to his face, neck, hands, shoulder and upper body area, police said. The injured employee was taken to a hospital in Sacramento County.
The following day in a social media post, the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office reported Bluett as a missing person considered at risk “due to a diagnosis and vulnerabilities.” Sheriff’s officials shared a photo of Bluett, along with his physical description and the clothes he had on when he was last seen near the McDonald’s on Harter Parkway. They asked the public to help find him and bring Bluett “home safely.”
On Monday, sheriff’s officials announced that deputies found Bluett and arrested him on a warrant obtained by Yuba City police. Bluett was involved in an altercation at the McDonald’s, where he worked, and left the restaurant, according to the Sheriff’s Office. On Sunday morning, Bluett was reported missing by his family.
Police said Bluett was identified as the suspect in the assault Saturday at the Yuba City McDonald’s.
