Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

McDonald's Worker Didn't Need to Beat My Daughter, Dad Says

By Andrea Swalec | October 18, 2011 6:37pm
The McDonald's on West 3rd Street, near Sixth Avenue.
The McDonald's on West 3rd Street, near Sixth Avenue.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

MANHATTAN — The Greenwich Village McDonald's worker who allegedly fractured the skull of a 24-year-old Queens woman with a metal rod acted out of rage — not self-defense — the victim's father said Tuesday.

Gerald Darbeau, 64, said that while his daughter, Denise Darbeau, should not have jumped behind the counter of the 136 W. 3rd St. restaurant, she did not deserve to be brutally beaten.

"Although she was culpable, the attack itself was vicious and it shouldn't have happened," Gerald Darbeau told DNAinfo. "When he hit my daughter, she was out the first time. There was no reason to hit her again."

Police have charged the worker, identified as Rayon McIntosh, 31, with felony assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

"I don't want to hear about self-defense," Gerald Darbeau said in response to some online feedback to video of the attack that defended McIntosh. "[McIntosh] was defending himself against what, a 5-1 female?"

McIntosh stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 160 pounds, according to Department of Correction records.

"People are saying it was provoked, but where does provocation stop and a vicious assault begin?" the victim's father added.

Gerald Darbeau said his daughter, who has been hospitalized since the attack, received 20 staples on the left side of her head and has no memory of the attack. She is having problems speaking, hearing and reading, he added.

"My daughter could have died there," he said.

Denise Darbeau works as an aide to mentally disabled adults and is a sister and aunt, noted her father, who is a retired truck driver. He did not know of any previous trouble his daughter had with police.

Denise Darbeau and her friend Rachel Edwards — who also vaulted the counter and suffered only a deep cut on her arm, according to court records — began their night by singing karaoke at a club, the elder Darbeau said. Then they went to McDonald's.

The victim's father questioned whether McIntosh, who served more than a decade in prison for killing a 17-year-old classmate when he was 19 years old, had informed McDonald's of his criminal record.

"I think that he deserved the chance to work, but I wonder if McDonald's knew about his background," he said.

"I think the company is just as culpable [as McIntosh], particularly if they didn't do a background check. I'd be interested to see that application."

Gerald Darbeau said he wanted to see McIntosh pay for his alleged actions.

"He had a second chance coming out of prison," he said, "but he blew it."

The victim's father said he was disturbed to see in horrific cell phone video of the incident that customers and McDonald's employees appeared to watch the attack unfold rather than immediately calling for help.

"People should've called the police rather than taking photos and video," he said. "Why were they just standing here like that?"

Gerald Darbeau added that he wanted people to know his daughter "comes from a good family."

"I don't want people to look at my daughter as an unruly young woman," he said. "She's a caring person and this incident was unfortunate."