A California man has filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s, claiming that employees failed to intervene or call 911 during a tragic incident where his wife was fatally assaulted by a homeless individual while they waited in a drive-thru line.

Jose Juan Rangel initiated the legal action last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, as reported by Law & Crime. The lawsuit asserts that a “known vagrant” approached the vehicles and attacked the couple at a Boyle Heights McDonald’s drive-thru in March 2024.

While waiting for their order, Rangel and his 58-year-old wife, Maria Vargas Luna, were allegedly confronted by Charles Cornelius Green Jr., who began attacking Rangel through the driver’s side window. According to the lawsuit, Vargas Luna, who had limited vision, tried to assist but was knocked to the ground, sustaining severe head injuries.

Rangel’s family previously informed Fox News that Vargas Luna suffered a heart attack en route to the hospital following the incident.

According to her family, Maria Vargas Luna endured two heart attacks after the couple was assaulted at the Los Angeles McDonald’s in March 2024. (Fox & Friends First screenshot)

She was hospitalized and placed on life support for several months, though ultimately died from her injuries, according to the lawsuit.

“We’re all devastated because my father is beside himself, and he says he doesn’t want to keep living without her because she was his world,” Rangel’s daughter, Veronica Rangel, told “Fox & Friends First” in May 2024 when Vargas Luna was still on life support. “They’ve been married for 30 years, and all she did was give up her life trying to defend him, and my dad feels guilty. He feels sad. He feels angry. He feels like he’s losing his life partner, his best friend, for something that should never have happened.”

The alleged attack happened in the drive-thru of a McDonald’s in Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles in March 2024. (KTTTV)

The lawsuit accuses McDonald’s Corp., McDonald’s Restaurants of California Inc., McDonald’s USA LLC and the franchise operators of failing to act despite visible warning signs of danger. It alleges employees watched Green loiter and approach cars in the drive-thru for at least 10 minutes and then failed to call 911 or intervene as the assault unfolded.

 “These visible warning signs required defendants to take protective action, but they did nothing,” the complaint says. “Defendants’ failure to … recognize the danger and respond before the assault occurred directly contributed to the injuries and death.”

The lawsuit alleges that McDonald’s employees failed to call 911 or intervene as the assault unfolded. (iStock)

Rangel’s attorneys say the location has a long history of police calls for violent and criminal behavior, including assault and trespassing, which they say put McDonald’s on notice of the risk. The complaint asserts claims including wrongful death, negligence and premises liability, and seeks compensatory and other damages.

Green was initially charged with felony and misdemeanor battery, but prosecutors later dropped the serious count, saying surveillance video suggested Vargas Luna’s fall was accidental, FOX11 Los Angeles reported.

Green was released on his own recognizance, and the status of any misdemeanor charges is unclear.