A woman was arrested after a fight with employees at a Mcdonald’s in Ravenna, Ohio. A Facebook video police say shows Cherysse Cleveland attacking workers went viral. The three-minute video was posted to the social media site on June 14, 2021.
Brian Allen posted the video and wrote on Facebook, “Craziness is out in full force, just saw this at Ravenna McDonald’s.” According to Fox 8, the incident happened about 9:40 a.m. Ravenna Police said they were dispatched to the fast food restaurant at 418 West Main Street for a report of an assault, according to the news station.
Officers saw the 44-year-old Cleveland “aggressively swinging her arms” at people inside the McDonald’s when they arrived, according to court documents obtained by Fox 8. She was handcuffed and removed from the restaurant, police said. According to court documents, Cleveland became upset when McDonald’s workers told her she could not mix all three slushy flavors together. She told police she “lost it” and began attacking the employees, according to the news station. Police said Cleveland also tried to go behind the McDonald’s counter to make a slushy herself and punched a worker in the face when they stopped her, the news station reports.
One of the McDonald’s Workers Can Be Heard Telling Cleveland, ‘Do Not Touch Me, I’ll Destroy You’
The video, which has more than 2.2 million views on Facebook, begins with Cleveland behind the McDonald’s counter confronting two workers. The video shows Cleveland hitting one of the employees and then trying to push past both women as they try to hold her back. One of the workers says to Cleveland, “Don’t touch me. Do not touch me. I’ll destroy you.” Cleveland then breaks free and punches the other woman in the face, the video shows, before yelling, “B****” at her.
Cleveland then tells the workers, “I’m sorry, I’ve been up all day. I’m sorry.” She then suddenly rips the mask off of the face of one of the employees and slams her fist down on the counter. One of the McDonald’s workers then tells Cleveland that she could go to jail for assault and battery. “OK, then I’ll go to prison. I will go to f***** prison,” Cleveland replies.
Cleveland then fills up a cup with ice from the soda machine before walking back toward the counter and trying to get to the slushy machine a second time, the video shows. One of the McDonald’s workers tells her, “Don’t come back here,” and tries to stop her before Cleveland hits her in the face. The worker, who earlier told Cleveland she would “destroy her” if she touched her, then takes Cleveland down to the ground and begins punching her, the video shows. She lifts Cleveland up by the hair before she breaks free again. The video ends with Cleveland trying to attack the workers again as a police officer arrives and handcuffs her, telling Cleveland, “enough,” and then leading her out of the store.
According to Fox 8, two employees suffered minor injuries. Allen, who posted the video, told WOIO, “I was concerned that she may start hurting somebody. So, I started recording in case law enforcement needed the tape for any kind of evidence of the assault.”
Allen added, “If I was in their shoes, I wouldn’t have been able to show the restraint they did. You can see from the video that several times, not just once, she physically assaults and or pushes them. And they don’t do anything except for to try to protect themselves. And you can clearly hear the one employee trying to protect her boss as well. I think they both did outstanding jobs. I don’t see anybody having to take abuse like that. I think the lesson is just to treat people the way that we want to be treated, and I don’t see that a lot in the world anymore.”
Cleveland, Whose Record Includes a Previous Felonious Assault Conviction, Was Charged With 2 Counts of Misdemeanor Assault
Ravenna Police/Portage County SheriffCherysse Cleveland was charged after the fight at a Ravenna, Ohio, McDonald’s.
Cleveland was booked at the Ravenna Police Department and later taken to the Portage County Justice Center, according to court documents. According to Portage County court records, Cleveland was charged with two first-degree misdemeanor counts of assault. The charges carry a potential sentence of up to 6 months in jail, according to Ohio state law.
Cleveland appeared before a Portage County judge on July 15 and pleaded not guilty, WOIO reports. Her bond was set at $1,000, according to the news station. The judge ordered her to not return to the Ravenna McDonald’s location and to not have contact with the victims. She bonded out of custody, records show.
In 2014, Cleveland was found guilty of second-degree felonious assault in Portage County. Charges of first-degree kidnapping and disrupting public service were dropped as part of a plea agreement. She was sentenced to two years in prison with credit for 217 days she served in jail prior to sentencing. According to court documents, Cleveland was accused of throwing a woman to the ground and punching her repeatedly and then throwing a lamp at her.
Cleveland was also charged with disorderly conduct in 2014 and theft in 2013.