Viral video: Florida Chick-fil-A employee hailed hero after tackling … – WJXT News4JAX
Carianne Luter, Social Media Producer
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Carianne Luter, Social Media Producer
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – Now that’s service!
A Chick-fil-A employee in Florida is being hailed as a hero after he helped save a woman and her baby from a carjacking in the fast food restaurant’s parking lot on Wednesday, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said.
Okaloosa County deputies said the man “grabbed her keys and tried to take her car” near Fort Walton Beach. The Sheriff’s office said 43-year-old William Branch approached the woman — who was removing a baby from her car — “wielding a stick and demanding her keys.”
The actions that took place next have gone viral. One of the restaurant’s employees, without a second thought, ran over to help the woman. In a video posted by the sheriff’s office, the employee can be seen body slamming the would-be carjacker, putting him in a chokehold, and pinning him to the ground as they waited for authorities to arrive.
The video posted on the sheriff’s Twitter, as of Friday, had been watched eight million times.
“A major shout-out to this young man for his courage!” the sheriff’s office wrote.
In reference to the FWB Chick-fil-A employee who ran to help a woman with a baby who was being carjacked, we want to say a sincere thank you to Ms. Kelner for providing video of a portion of the encounter. (see prior post). A major shout-out to this young man for his courage! pic.twitter.com/2Lcwe46azv
Deputies said the man was not seriously injured.
Olivia Iverson with WEAR-TV posted a photo of the employee and said, “This is the HERO!”
"This is the HERO!"
The @ChickfilA location identified the employee as Mykel Gordon. "At Chick-fil-A our mission is to 'Serve' and today Mykel took it further……to 'Save.'" @weartv pic.twitter.com/ox9UbjDatB
New4JAX followers weighed in on the video posted to the News4JAX Instagram account.
“Doing the Lord’s work one day at a time!” one person wrote.
“HERO!!!!!” another said.
“It was my pleasure!!” another follower wrote.
Deputies arrested William Branch on charges of carjacking with a weapon and battery, Iverson said.
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Carianne Luter is a social media producer for News4Jax and has worked at Channel 4 since December 2015. She graduated from the University of North Florida with a communication degree.
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