Man allegedly attacked Burger King employees in North Miami Beach and poured “cold coffee” on one

NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Florida. — A homeless South Florida Canadian man who apparently doesn't get his way is accused of attacking two Burger King employees — one of them a senior citizen — who police said had been kicked out of the restaurant just the day before.

John Joseph Gillis, 79, is charged with one felony and two misdemeanors following his arrest in connection with the incident, which authorities say occurred Wednesday morning at the chain's location at 233 NE 167th St. in North Miami Beach.

According to a police report from the North Miami Beach Police Department, Gillis became “agitated” after the worker, an elderly man, asked him to leave the restaurant's patio so he could continue sweeping.

According to police, Gillis pushed the man to the ground.

The report says the employee then went into the restaurant to get his assistant manager, and police said Gillis threw “cold coffee” on her when she came out to tell him to leave. Police say she had ejected him from the property on Tuesday after the two got into a verbal argument.

The coffee soaked the manager's shirt and the executive suffered a scratch on his elbow, police said.

Authorities said they found Gillis at a nearby Starbucks. Much of his statement to police was redacted from the report, but police said he told them he got into a verbal argument with the first employee because the employee “told him to throw away his coffee because he was going to clean up.”

Police arrested Gillis on charges of assault on a person over 65, a third-degree felony, as well as two counts of assault and trespassing.

Court records show a series of clashes with Miami-Dade police dating back to the late 1980s, most of which involved charges of trespassing.

Gillis, also known as “John Hugh Gillis” and “Joe Johnny Gillis,” was not convicted after his arrest by the then-Metro-Dade Police Department in 1989. He was charged with resisting arrest with violence and assault on a police officer.

He was convicted by the Miami-Dade Police Department in 1998 of assault on a police officer. He was also convicted of causing a public nuisance.

Gillis has been held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center since Thursday, with bail set at “to be determined.”