Police: Fast Food "Delay" Led to Scranton Drive Thru Stabbing

Scranton, Lackawanna County - Three people will face charges after a fight, which ended in a stabbing, at a Scranton McDonalds this weekend.

It happened early Sunday morning at the drive-thru of the McDonalds on South Washington Avenue in South Scranton.

Police say it started in the drive-thru line between two different groups in two different cars.

According to police, the fight and stabbing was all because it was taking too long for the people to get their food from the fast food restaurant.

Investigators arrested Mariah Hill. She is accused of stabbing a man after the car he was in honked her her vehicle.

"I think that people, they really need to take a step back in life and think about what it's all about before they take actions like that," David Jennings of Clarks Summit said.

Police say Mariah Hill was with her boyfriend, Tarsean Neal, at the time.

When the car behind the couple honked its horn, Neal allegedly got out of his vehicle and a fight started between the two people.

That is when Mariah Hill allegedly stabbed Charles Almota in the upper back.

"Outrageous. It's outrageous," Thomas Wagner of Scranton said.

One day later customers were in shock.

"You worry. It's not just in Scranton. It's all over," Wagner said.

"It's a fast food restaurant. There shouldn't have to be local authorities that have to be here. It's a restaurant. You're supposed to be able to come here and eat, not worry about your safety," Brian Lynch of Scranton said.

This South Scranton McDonalds has seen other incidents in the past. It has even hired extra police to keep watch on Friday and Saturday nights.

Customers say they never expected to hear about what happened early Sunday morning.

"It's something that you would never expect at a McDonalds," Jennings said. "I mean, when you think about McDonalds, you think about taking your children there and you think about getting your coffee and your breakfast there in the morning, never to hear about a stabbing because somebody beeped a horn at them."

Because this is a police investigation, the McDonalds Corporate Communications Office declined to comment. They would only say the extra police presense at that McDonalds will continue.

Mariah Hill is facing aggravated assault charges in connection with the incident. Her boyfriend and the victim will also face lesser charges in connection with the fight.