Overview
- Jose Juan Rangel filed a wrongful-death and negligence lawsuit on Jan. 8 in Los Angeles Superior Court against McDonald’s corporate entities and two franchise operators, seeking unspecified damages.
- The suit stems from a March 9, 2024 incident in which Charles Cornelius Green Jr. allegedly attacked Rangel at a Boyle Heights drive-thru, after which Maria Vargas Luna suffered catastrophic head trauma, was kept on life support for months, and later died.
- Rangel alleges employees watched the assault through the service window and on live video feeds without calling 911 or taking action, despite Green reportedly loitering and panhandling at the lane for at least ten minutes.
- The complaint cites 132 Los Angeles Police Department calls to the location from 2020 to March 2024, asserting the restaurant was on notice about recurring crime and failed to provide security or other safety measures.
- Prosecutors previously dropped a felony battery charge against Green, citing video that they said did not show an intentional act, left a misdemeanor case unresolved, and released him on his own recognizance; McDonald’s has not issued a substantive response in the coverage.