A West Virginia man faces multiple charges after officers said he pulled out an AK-47 at Burger King in Moorefield last month because of a wrong order.
Officers were dispatched to Burger King on April 29 to speak with the Assistant Manager who said an incident occurred on the day prior where a man and woman ordered food and received the wrong order, according to a criminal complaint.
The Assistant Manager told officers, according to the report, a man, later identified as Eric Phares, 28, called the restaurant and said he was “going to shoot the establishment up with his AK-47.”
The altercation allegedly involved Phares, his wife and an employee at the restaurant.
When officers called Phares and asked him about the incident, he reportedly became “very irate and upset” before handing the phone to his wife, who denied a firearm being involved. The police report says Phares was in the background of the call saying he does not own an AK-47 and called Burger King to apologize for the altercation.
Later in the day, officers said they were contacted by the restaurant’s owner who had been reviewing surveillance footage. In the footage, officers said the employee took food out to Phares and as he was walking back to the restaurant, he appeared to get into an argument with Phares and his wife. Phares allegedly walked toward his vehicle, opened the door and pulled out “what appeared to be an AK-47 type rifle and pointed it toward the establishment” while patrons and employees were there.
After that, Phares laid the rifle back into the vehicle and got into the car, officers said.
When officers interviewed the employee, he confirmed that an argument took place and saw Phares pull out a black item from his vehicle but could not determine what it was.
According to the report, Phares’ wife showed officers screenshots of Facebook posts in which both of them went on rants about the incident.
Phares has been charged with threats of terrorist acts and wanton endangerment. He is being held at Potomac Highlands Regional Jail on a $50,000 bond.
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