Chick-fil-A worker praised for helping woman with kidnapped baby, deputies say

CNN
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The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office is praising a Chick-fil-A employee in Florida who it said came to the aid of a woman who was being kidnapped.

The woman was getting a baby out of her vehicle outside the restaurant in Fort Walton Beach when a man with a cane approached and demanded her keys, the sheriff’s office said Wednesday in a news release.

The man then took the keys from the waistband of the woman’s trousers, opened the car door and got in, the report says.

After hearing the woman’s cries for help, an employee rushed to intervene, deputies said.

The employee, identified by the Chick-fil-A operator as Mykel Gordon, got into a physical struggle with the suspect, who punched Gordon in the face, the release said.

As the two weaved their way into the parking lot, others arrived to help subdue the suspect, a video shared on Twitter of the sheriff’s office shows.

The sheriff’s office credits the employee as a Good Samaritan who stopped the suspect from fleeing.

“A big shout out to this young man for his courage,” the department said in the post.

Matthew Sexton, the operator of the Chick-fil-A branch, told CNN he is relieved everyone is safe.

“I am grateful to my amazing team member, Mykel Gordon, who so selflessly jumped in to step in and help our guests. “I couldn’t be prouder of his incredible act of care,” Sexton said

The suspect, a 43-year-old man, was arrested and charged with carjacking with a weapon and battery, the sheriff’s office says.