Father Charged With Assault For Throwing Hot McDonalds Fries At Stepdaughter

James Hackett is facing a felony assault charge after he threw his newly purchased “hot and oily” McDonalds fries at his 11-year-old stepdaughter in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Yahoo News reports that the police report states that the girl was not harmed in the incident, though it does state:

“[The action] could cause burning to skin and eyes.”

The Lowell Sun reports that Hackett, 26, was charged with assault and battery, which he pleaded not guilty to on Monday in the Lowell District Court. He was released on the condition that he will stay away from the victim, his stepdaughter, and have no contact with her at all. Lowell police have also stated that the Department of Children and Family services is involved in the case.

The Smoking Gun originally posted the police report, omitting the daughter and mother’s (accuser) names, to protect the young girl. Hackett and his wife began arguing shortly after leaving the McDonald’s drive through. The report states that the two were arguing about money when the girl “began to interject into the argument in an attempt to get the two to stop fighting.”

Hackett apparently did not appreciate her interrupting, and he allegedly “picked up the container of french fries he had just purchased, which were hot and oily, and threw it at [the girl], striking her in the face and chest area.”

Yahoo News reports that, throughout the whole confrontation and subsequent police involvement, the young girl appears to be the most mature.

Do you think that James Hackett deserves to be charged for assault for throwing fries at his stepdaughter?