A California widower claimed McDonald’s workers watched and made no effort to save his wife’s life as she was fatally attacked by a “vagrant” in the drive-thru.
Jose Juan Rangel filed a lawsuit against the fast-food chain and two franchise holders in Los Angeles Superior Court on Jan. 8, nearly two years after his wife, Maria Vargas Luna, was attacked at a McDonald’s in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles.
Rangel, 75, and Luna, 58, were stuck in their car at the Golden Arches drive-thru when a homeless man, later identified as Charles Cornelius Green Jr., approached them in March 2024, according to the lawsuit obtained by Law & Crime.
Green had been roaming the drive-thru area “for at least ten minutes,” panhandling customers for money before he approached the couple, Rangel’s attorney, Ali R. Kazempour, claimed.
Green allegedly launched himself at Rangel and struck him repeatedly in the face through the open driver-side window.
Luna leapt from the car to help her husband, but Green shoved her to the ground, causing her head to strike the asphalt and suffer catastrophic injuries that led to permanent brain damage, according to the suit.
The complaint alleged that McDonald’s employees “never called law enforcement or requested emergency assistance” during the attack despite “visible warning signs” leading up to the physical altercation that required action.
“Defendants’ employees had sufficient time to observe Green’s conduct, recognize the danger, and intervene before the assault,” the lawsuit stated.
Police arrived after Rangel was injured and his wife was lying unconscious on the ground.
Luna was transported to the hospital, where she was placed on life support for several months before she died from her injuries.
Green was allegedly a “known vagrant” who frequently loitered at the McDonald’s, and employees were aware that his presence created “unpredictable and alarming encounters” for customers, according to the suit.
“Defendants’ failure to employ security personnel or implement safety measures allowed Green to remain on the property and created the conditions that led to the attack.”
Rangel’s lawsuit alleges that workers ignored obvious danger, failed to monitor customer areas, and acted negligently, asserting that they still had a duty to “respond reasonably” once Green became threatening, even without a security guard.
The complaint also alleges the McDonald’s location had become a magnet for crime, claiming the Los Angeles Police Department responded to the restaurant 132 times for violent incidents and criminal activity between 2020 and March 2024.
Police allegedly handled 90 criminal or violent incidents at the location, with at least 70 of the calls involving assaults, batteries, or disturbances.
“These repeated events placed defendants on actual and constructive notice that violence, trespassing, and loitering created persistent and dangerous conditions on the property,” the complaint said.
“Despite the history of similar incidents, the visible warning signs immediately before the assault, and the attack unfolding in plain view for several minutes, defendants chose not to take any action to protect (Rangel) or his now-deceased wife.”
Green initially faced felony and misdemeanor battery charges, but prosecutors dropped the felony after determining Luna’s fall was accidental, Fox 11 reported.
Green was later cut loose on his own recognizance, and the case remains unresolved.
The couple’s daughter, Veronica Rangel, criticized then–Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, accusing him of “brushing off” the crime against her parents.
“My father’s wife, our stepmother, is dying — or pretty much dead — and where’s the justice? There was no justice at all,” Veronica Rangel told KTLA at the time.
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