Customer Scalds Burger King Worker

JUNE 30--Following a dispute in the drive-thru lane of a Burger King, a Florida teenager yesterday walked into the restaurant and threw a cup of scalding coffee on a fast food worker who suffered burns on her face, hands, and arms, police report.

According to an arrest affidavit, Anastasia Lantier, 18, entered the Burger King around 10:20 AM “due to an issue at the drive through.” Once inside the Seminole restaurant, Lantier got into a “verbal altercation” with Cynthia Crumb, a 21-year-old restaurant employee.

During that argument, Lantier (seen at right) allegedly “grabbed a coffee cup that was sitting on the counter” and threw it at Crumb. The coffee--which cops measured at 250 degrees--“splashed all over” Crumb, “burning the victim on her face and hands/arms.”

During an ensuing physical altercation, Lantier scratched Crumb, while the worker bit and scratched Lantier. With her mother in tow, Lantier left the Burger King before police arrived.

The teenager was subsequently questioned by cops at her St. Petersburg home. Lantier initially admitted to grabbing the cup, but claimed she “did not know what was in the coffee cup or what she was going to do with it.” She subsequently “admitted to grabbing the cup with the intention of throwing it in the general direction of the victim,” police reported.

Lantier was arrested on a felony aggravated battery charge for “causing great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement” to Crumb, seen at left. The injuries to Crumb, a mother of two small children, are not described in court records.

Lantier was freed last night from the county jail after posting $10,000 bond. The defendant, who graduated high school last month, is listed as working for a customer service call center in Tampa. (1 page)