Burger rage accused seeks charge reduction

Photo / Sarah Ivey

A man accused of going on a rampage when his order of Wendy's came out wrong is seeking to have a charge of damaging a till withdrawn.

David Junior Ilolahia, a furniture remover from Blockhouse Bay in Auckland, allegedly smashed the till, flipped tables and attacked a police officer upon finding his order at the Lynfield store had been botched.

He faces charges of resisting police, assaulting a constable, damaging a police shirt worth $50, two charges of disorderly behaviour, and damaging an electronic till worth $2700.

In Auckland District Court today Ilolahia's lawyer Eb (correct) Leary said he was seeking to have the latter charge withdrawn because the till had not actually been damaged.

Police were seeking reparation from the accused.

Speaking outside court Mr Leary said he would also seek to have one of the disorderly behaviour charges dropped.

Once this had been resolved his client would be in a position to enter a plea, he said.

Ilolahia is said to have made a "very big order'' from the Lynfield Wendy's drive through in January.

During the five to 10 minutes it took for the order to be made he asked for the receipt to check his order, according to a person at the store.

He then allegedly flew into a rage, saying he did not have enough burger patties

"The customer was a bit upset at his meal,'' said Inspector Gary Allcock. "He went nuts.''

Staff at the store locked themselves in the office to escape Ilolahia's alleged rampage.

A police officer tried to restrain him and emptied a can of pepper spray into Ilolahia's face.

The alleged struggle lasted about 10 minutes and spilled out to the restaurant carpark, where five officers eventually subdued Ilolahia and arrested him.

Ilolahia has previously described the incident as a "communications breakdown kind of thing'' that escalated.

He was remanded on bail - with a condition that he does not enter the Wendy's store _ until he appears again next month.