Fast food restaurant employee uses MMA moves to prevent carjacking

Would you like a chokehold to go with those fries?

A young Chick-fil-A employee sprang into action to save a woman and her baby from a car-jacking in Fort Walton Beach in Florida’s Panhandle. 

The employee manhandled a would-be perp by forcing him to submit in an MMA style headlock.  

According to a Facebook post from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, on September 14 the suspect was attempting to grab the woman’s keys from her in the parking lot of the restaurant. 

At the time, the woman was in the process of removing her baby from the car. 

The sheriff’s office said that the suspect, William Branch, 43, was armed with a stick during the attempted robbery. 

According to a Facebook post from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, on September 14 the suspect was attempting to grab the woman’s keys from her in the parking lot of the restaurant

When the woman called for help, that’s when our hero sprang into action and manhandled the suspect

The suspect, William Branch, is facing attempted carjacking with a weapon and battery charges

According to his Facebook page, hero Mykel Gordon has worked at the Chick-fil-A restaurant since December 2016

As he yelled at the woman, demanding her keys, he grew impatient and grabbed them himself from the waistband of her pants. 

The suspect then got into the car. That’s when the victim yelled for help which prompts our hero springs into action. 

Mykel Gordon ran over to the car, grabbed Branch and placed him in an aggressive headlock and clung on as he wrestled him to the ground. The sheriff’s office said that Gordon was punched in the face by the suspect. 

Gordon did not suffer any serious injuries as a result of his heroic efforts.  

When other Chick-fil-A employees tried to intervene, Branch ran away from the scene. He was arrested shortly afterwards and charged with carjacking with a weapon and battery.

Gordon was first identified in a Facebook post from his employer, Chick-fil-A Fort Walton Beach. The franchise’s owner, Matthew Sexton, shared a photo of Gordon.

The post read: ‘This is the HERO! At Chick-fil-A, our mission is to and today, Mykel took it further…to save.’

On his Facebook page, Gordon says that he worked at Chick-fil-A since December 2016 as the Speed of Service Director. In the same profile, he lists his favorite quote as: ‘Don’t make other people do something you can do yourself.’

The hero is married with a daughter.  

The sheriff’s office said that Gordon was punched in the face by the suspect during his rescue 

The hero, pictured here with his wife and daughter, said that his favorite quote is: ‘Don’t make other people do something you can do yourself’

 One person commented on the video asking if Branch, pictured here, enjoyed a choke-hold to go with those fries

According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Chick-fil-A is ranked as having the highest satisfaction ratings among the nation’s fast food outlets.  

In the Facebook post, the sheriff’s office made reference to Gordon saying: ‘A major shout-out to this young man for his courage!’ 

One person commented on the sheriff’s video saying: ‘I hope my sons grow up to be this brave.’ Another said: ‘Just when I thought Chick-fil-A couldn’t be any better!! Like a boss!’ 

Other comments included a person who wrote: ‘Chick-fil-A is about to be even busier than normal as the entire community is gonna want to go shake this hero’s hand to say thank you for being awesome!’

While another comment read: ‘That was a very brave young man! Thank to the parents of his raised a great son/young man that lot of us need to follow his awesome quick thinking to help someone in desperate need!! His employer should give him the employee of the year!!!’