Fight at Edgewood Popeyes tied to complaint about order

A video of a fight Sunday at the Edgewood Popeyes fast food restaurant went viral, as a fight at another Maryland Popeyes over the chain’s popular chicken sandwich became deadly Monday night.

The Edgewood incident occurred at the Popeyes restaurant at 1011 Woodbridge Center Way. The Harford County Sheriff’s Office calls for services show deputies responded to the 1000 block of Woodbridge Center Way around 4:34 p.m. Sunday for two men fighting inside the restaurant.

The investigation and follow-up interviews indicated the incident was between a customer and an employee after the customer demanded a refund, said Kyle Andersen, a sheriff’s office spokesman.

Sheriff’s deputies have responded to the Popeyes in Edgewood two more times since — around 6:37 p.m. Sunday and again Tuesday — for reports of a disturbance, both between a supervisor and an employee, Andersen said.

“None of these incidents appear to be related to the recent release of their chicken sandwich,” Andersen said. “There were no injuries observed or reported in any incident. At this time, no charges have been filed. Popeyes has requested no further police action.”

Kenyan K. Southers posted a video on his Facebook page around 6:04 p.m. Sunday, showing a man in a maroon hoodie going behind the counter and swinging at an employee at the Edgewood Popeyes. The two continue to fight into the kitchen and other parts of the restaurant.

Southers, who went to the Popeyes to get chicken sandwiches with his kids and members of his church, said the manager of the Edgewood store was being “a little aggressive” with many customers. When a couple complained they didn’t get everything they had ordered and asked for a refund, the manager “called the woman stupid and called her an animal,” Southers said. The woman’s husband went over the counter to confront the manager and the two started fighting, he said. “I’ve seen that type of stuff before, I thought I was back on the job,” Southers, who said he was a former Baltimore police officer, said.

Southers and many others were waiting in line for the chain’s popular chicken sandwich, which Popeyes began selling again Sunday. The sandwich was first introduced Aug. 12 and quickly sold out.

On Monday night at a Popeyes in Oxon Hill, two men were waiting in line set aside for ordering chicken sandwiches when one of the men accused the other of cutting in front of him, Prince George’s County police spokeswoman Jennifer Donelan told news outlets. The subsequent fight spilled outside where one of the men fatally stabbed the other, according to police.

Police are still looking for the assailant and have called on him to surrender, Donelan added.