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Insets (clockwise from top left): Alexis Kearney and Antonio Alexander (Shelby County Jail), Kristin Gillia (WHBQ/YouTube).
A woman and her three children faced a terrifying ordeal at a Tennessee Burger King when they were attacked and their newly acquired SUV was hijacked, according to local authorities.
Following the incident, Alexis Kearney, 31, and Antonio Alexander, 25, were taken into custody. Kearney is facing carjacking charges, whereas Alexander has been charged with felony theft of property, theft of a firearm, and misdemeanor counts of aggravated assault and assault, based on court documents reviewed by Law&Crime.
Kristin Gillia was in the drive-thru lane at the Burger King on Winchester Road in Memphis on Monday evening when she noticed her order was incomplete.
“They missed the fries,” she explained to local CBS affiliate WREG. “They asked me to pull up. I thought, why not add a cheeseburger? I wanted something extra. They instructed me to park and come inside.”
Complying with the request, Gillia went into the restaurant with her daughter, leaving her other two children in their 2007 Ford Edge, a vehicle she had just purchased four days earlier. She shared with Memphis-based Fox affiliate WHBQ that she had instructed the children to lock the doors before she headed inside the fast-food establishment.
Suddenly, the kids who were in the Ford Edge ran inside the Burger King and told Gillia that someone was trying to steal their vehicle. The mother ran back to the SUV.
“I ran around and opened the door, and I tried to insert myself into the situation,” Gillia told WREG. “I just got the car. Me and my kids need it.”
She grabbed for her phone but was pushed away, with one of the suspects reportedly saying, “put it in drive.” The suspects drove off, but not before allegedly running over Gillia’s foot and pulling one of her kids from the vehicle and pushing him to the ground.
A witness is said to have found a gun at the scene, and the Ford Edge was found parked on a nearby road, per WHBQ.
Gillia and one of her kids were reportedly treated at an area hospital.
Alexander had a court hearing on Friday, while Kearney is scheduled to have a mental evaluation on March 12.