The price of the Beefy Crunch Burrito had gone up from 99 cents to $1.49 and the man at the Rigsby Road Taco Bell drive-thru had just ordered seven. The fast food customer was so disgruntled by the price hike he shot an air gun at the manager, displayed a semiautomatic assault rifle and pistol while in the restaurant’s parking lot, fled as police were called, exchanged shots with three officers who pulled him over, then barricaded himself in his hotel room — all over $3.50 plus additional tax.
There comes a time in every man’s life when one has draw a line in the sand, to stand up and say “I’M MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!” Sadly, this was (a particularly poor choice for) that moment for Ricardo Jones, who, for his epic moment, chose…wait for it…the price of Taco Bell’s Beefy Crunch Burritos.
Yes, our intrepid hero decided that the additional $3.50 for his seven precious burritos (what, no Pepto Bismol??) justified going to war against the forces of Evil arrayed against him…for, verily, if a man can’t get a bad burrito for under a buck…well, the only logical conclusion is that evil has triumphed. That was apparently more than Mr. Jones could handle. Deciding that the battle had been joined, Jones fired a BB gun at the restaurant’s manager, and then holed himself up in a nearby Rodeway Inn, where he held off a SWAT team for three-plus hours until he was finally tear-gassed out of his room.
Sharpshooters climbed up on the roof of the Sky Line Food Mart next to the motel. Police blocked off W.W. White in both directions. They evacuated some nearby businesses and some of the rooms in the motel.
Through a megaphone the negotiator could be heard telling the man to pick up the phone.
“No one needs to get hurt,” the negotiator said.
Around 6:30 p.m., and without a reply from the man inside, SWAT used tear gas to clear the room, Benavides said.
The man came out without incident.
All over $3.50 plus tax. Way to fight the good fight, Kimosabe….
Man, I hate to contemplate what might have transpired if someone had screwed up his drink order.
