He strangled a customer at his restaurant — for complaining about cold fries, police say

The fries may have been cold, but the debate was sure heated.

Police arrested Donald Crump, the owner of Crumpy’s Hot Wings on Highland Street in Memphis, Tennessee, after he allegedly strangled a customer last Friday when she complained that her fries were cold, according to Fox13.

Rinesha Moore told WREG that she ordered her food over the phone and was told it would be ready in 25 to 35 minutes. But Moore said the wing shop usually doesn’t have its food prepared on time, so she arrived to Crumpy’s Hot Wings about 45 minutes later to give them “just a little extra time.”

“I saw that my food was kinda .... it's usually smoking but it wasn't smoking this time, it was kinda dry so I said, ‘Can I get some fresh fries?’,” said Moore, who told WREG that Crump said they were cold because she was late. “He was just like naw, being nonchalant, like he didn't care, just bad customer service right off the back [sic].”

That’s when Crump allegedly started strangling Moore, she told WMC5. But Crump, who said he just grabbed Moore, says that the customer was “belligerent,” and multiple witnesses told WMC5, WREG and Fox13 that Moore threw her fries on the floor in anger after Crump refused to give her a refund.

“He deserves a punishment for doing this to a woman,” Moore said to WMC5. “He pushed me with his two hands and like pushed me into the fishbowl then I laid back, and he came like this with his two hands.”

“He said, ‘Don't disrespect my store,’ as he was choking me,” she added to WREG.

Memphis police arrested Crump, charging him with aggravated assault, WREG reported.

Crump later spoke with WMC5 to “set the record straight,” providing the TV station with a video of the encounter.

“I never choked her,” he said. “I never choked her.”

Judging by Google reviews of Crumpy's Hot Wings, Moore isn’t the first person to experience a long wait or cold food at the restaurant, although many praised its food in reviews.

“I order by phone, they say 15 minutes, I arrive 20 minutes later and waited 40 minutes and they said where have you been lol,” wrote Michael Ramsey in a one-star review. “I've been during here 40 minutes and I get my order and is ice cold I will never visit this franchise again,...... [sic]”

“My food was cold and they wouldn't replace my wings,” wrote another person named Tiffani Hicks. “They need to learn through foundation of customer service, which is customers are always right..”

Her one-star review received a “response from the owner.”

“We apologize that your experience at our establishment was not to your satisfaction. However, your experience was a mishap on your end Ms. Hicks. If you are going to tell a story tell it right!! You were given a preparation time but failed to show up,” the response read. “In fact, you arrived 45 minutes later and demanded that we fix your food over. We have no problem with fixing an order over if it was an issue on our end.”

“... The customer is not always right and who ever came up with that obviously never had to deal with customers as yourself. If they did...I'm sure they would change that phrase!!!! Thank You!!!!!!!!!!”

This story was originally published November 10, 2017 at 5:25 AM with the headline "He strangled a customer at his restaurant — for complaining about cold fries, police say."