Latest Update 23-10-2011Source: http://www.nydailynews.comA McDonald's cashier who swapped Happy Meals for jail fare after an ugly fast-food fight says he was goaded by a foul-mouthed customer who threatened to cut him up.
Rayon McIntosh, in an exclusive Rikers Island interview with the Daily News, said yesterday that he only smacked the woman and her friend with a metal bar after they jumped the counter and attacked him.
The first patron "started getting really aggressive," said McIntosh, giving his version of the brawl for the first time.
"She came in angry," he said. "I tried to keep things calm as best I could."
The ex-con, who served about a decade on a manslaughter rap, said his Oct. 13 shift at the Greenwich Village eatery was uneventful before his two tormenters arrived.
"I was not looking for trouble," said McIntosh, 31, wearing a crisp gray jail outfit. "The trouble found me. People are portraying me as a vicious attacker.
"I was just working at my job when I was attacked for no reason. I'm not a heartless person."
The confrontation began shortly after Denise Darbeau and Rachel Edwards, both 24, came into the W. Third St. franchise and paid their check with a $50 bill.
One of the women became outraged when McIntosh checked to see if the bill was genuine, as required by store policy.
"She started saying nasty things to me," said McIntosh, speaking in a thick Jamaican accent.
"She said, 'Oh, you think my s--t is fake?' ... She started saying, 'Suck my d--k.' She called my mother a whore."
The woman then spat at McIntosh, threatening to "cut me up," the fast food employee said. "Then she came over the counter and slaps me."
When the second woman jumped the counter to join in, McIntosh said his instinct for self-preservation kicked into high gear.
"I was being attacked by aggressive people I didn't know," said McIntosh. "I was just defending myself. They came in and went crazy on me."
A video camera caught McIntosh grabbing a metal bar used to clean grills and bashing the women. He was jailed on assault and weapons charges. The women were charged with criminal trespassing, menacing and disorderly conduct.
Darbeau's mother said her daughter's skull was fractured and that she suffers from permanent brain damage and memory loss. She remains in the hospital. Edwards suffered a gash to her arm.
McIntosh shot and killed a classmate in 2000, and only landed his McDonald's gig in April. Hundreds of Facebook users have rallied to his defense, saying his actions were justified.
