A McDonald’s employee was left in intensive care after a co-worker allegedly threw hot oil on him.
Jacob Smith, 20, was working as a shift manager on Saturday (June 6) when another employee at the Northern California restaurant allegedly attacked him.
According to ABC 10, police revealed the suspect left before officers arrived.
“The victim was up walking around ambulatory and able to communicate with them, but had obvious burn marks on his upper torso and his face area,” Yuba City Police Lt. Michael Bullard said.
A shift manager at McDonald’s was suddenly attacked at work. Credit: Jeff Greenberg / Getty
Suspect arrested and facing serious charges
The alleged attacker was identified as 23-year-old Jalani Bluett. He was later located and arrested by the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office shortly after midnight local time.
Before his arrest, the sheriff’s office took to Facebook to ask for the public’s help in locating Bluett, noting that he was “considered at risk due to a diagnosis and vulnerabilities”.
Bluett was eventually found and “held to answer on assault with a deadly weapon, mayhem, serious felony assault resulting in great bodily injury,” during his arraignment on June 6.
He is currently being held in Sutter County with no bail.
Jacob sustained burns to the side of his face, neck, right arm, and back. Credit: GoFundMe
Victim’s mother describes devastating injuries
Amber Smith said her son Jacob had been preparing to finish his shift when the violent assault occurred.
The 20-year-old sustained second-degree burns over 22 percent of his body after suffering burns to the side of his face, neck, right arm, and back.
“He was in the office getting ready to count the money when he saw out of the corner of his eye something, and he just turned, and the oil was just thrown on him,” the mom alleged, per PEOPLE.
She added: “The pain he’s experiencing is so excruciating that they can’t give him a level of pain medicine outside of the ICU.”
“I want justice to be served. I want him to serve the time he needs to serve for what he’s done to my son,” she said. “I mean, I don’t wish bad things towards him. I just want him to understand that what he did – really understand what he did – and the pain that he caused to my son is excruciating.”
John Cook, the owner and operator of the McDonald’s location, said the company is focused on supporting Jacob during his recovery.
“The serious incident that took place at our restaurant this past weekend is deeply concerning, and our focus is on supporting our employee, Jacob, as he recovers,” he said. “The safety and well-being of our employees, guests and community remain our top priority.”
“The other individual involved is no longer employed by our organization, and we are fully cooperating with local law enforcement as they continue their investigation,” he added.
Jalani Bluett was arrested after the incident. Credit: Sutter County Sheriff’s Office
Family shares recovery update
A GoFundMe was created to help support Jacob’s recovery. As of this writing, $70,769 has been raised of the $110K target.
An update shared on the fundraiser revealed the employee is scheduled to undergo skin graft surgery later this week.
Amber explained that the procedure is necessary “because there are some places that are pretty deep burns”.
Despite the severity of his injuries, Jacob shared an emotional message thanking those who have supported him throughout the ordeal.
“As much as I want to be angry, or want to hate people and be scared of people, it’s just so hard to be when I have so many people showing their love for me,” he wrote. “I’m not sad, and I’m not angry, and the pain doesn’t cause me grief because I know it’s necessary to heal.”
“I’m so thankful for everybody. Thank you to God for saving my eye and giving me awesome family and friends. Thank you to my family for being so incredibly supportive and loving and lifting me up in my time of need. Thank you to my friends who have shown so much care and taken time out of their own schedules to check on me every day.”
“And of course, thank you so much to my lovely fiance, Dulce, who is just the most incredible girl I could ever ask for, and is doing everything in her power to make sure I’m okay,” he shared. “But seriously, I appreciate all of you so much, and the words I write could never even express the magnitude of that.”
