New Jersey Man Tried To Strangle Burger King Employee For Asking Him To Wear Mask

A New Jersey man has been arrested and charged after he tried to strangle a Burger King employee who asked him to wear a mask.

David Siversten entered the restaurant, located on Route 23 in New Jersey, on March 27 and walked up to a female employee. He then grabbed her neck with both hands and attempted to strangle her, the Wayne Police Department said Tuesday.

The other employees intervened and stopped him from attacking the woman. However, Siversten managed to leave the area before the police arrived. Police said the man was involved in an argument with the employees at the restaurant earlier in the day after they asked him to wear a mask.

He was apprehended by the officers a short distance away. When Siversten realized that the police had caught up to him, he approached them and said, "You got me." Police said he seemed to be under the influence of alcohol and was agitated. He was charged with aggravated assault.

When the officers brought Siversten to the restaurant, the female employee identified him. She told the police that she had pain in her neck but didn't want to get medical help.

Siversten wasn't cooperative and hurt himself by slamming his head against a steel bench he was handcuffed to, the department said. He was taken to a hospital and was transported to the Passaic County Jail.

In another incident last month, a woman opened fire at some Burger King employees after she got furious about the long wait time at the restaurant. She got out of her vehicle and fired her weapon through the drive-thru window. She then drove away from the restaurant. No one was injured in the incident. Police were on the lookout for the woman.