Pregnant Employee Allegedly Kicked During Brawl At Texas Popeyes

A brawl between Popeyes employees and customers is going viral after it was captured on video at a restaurant in San Marcos, Texas, on Tuesday evening.

The 34-second footage shows a group of Popeye’s employees and customers fighting behind the restaurant’s counter, according to local station KSAT-TV.

Vedo Kemraj, owner of the Popeyes where the melee took place, said his staff members were simply defending the general manager, who was seven and a half months pregnant and was allegedly kicked in the stomach.

“If you see someone is pregnant, you’re not going to hit them. I don’t get that. Hopefully, she is going to be OK,” he told KSAT-TV.

Kemraj said the manager was taken to a nearby hospital, where she stayed overnight as a precautionary measure. He said she asked to work her Wednesday shift, according to the station.

According to Kemraj, four female customers at the drive-through window started the fight.

The customers, allegedly wearing shirts featuring the mascot of nearby Texas State University, reportedly wanted to order four meals with separate checks. Kemraj said the employee at the window “asked [them] very nicely if they can place their order inside,” because it was complicated.

“When the customers came inside, they started arguing with my general manager and went to the back of the counter and started fighting,” Kemraj told the station.

Although police were called the scene, they made no arrests, and those involved did not want to press charges, a San Marcos Police Department spokeswoman told HuffPost.

A Texas State University spokesperson told KSAT-TV that the school is looking into the incident, but could not confirm whether the customers involved in the fight are students there.

HuffPost reached out to Popeyes corporate offices, which did not immediately respond.

The San Marcos Popeyes location currently has a 1.5-star rating on Yelp. One review posted on Thursday by a user named “Donnie L.” seemed to reference the incident.

“Walked in. Was lit af. Donnie saw everyone fighting. Don still wanted that chicken meal then a person hit me in the face. And everyone was fighting:) other than my banged up face don liked it! It was chill atmosphere reminds me of game of thrones. Very peaceful environment. Mayweather vs McGregor ain’t have nothing on Popeyes vs customers.”