McDonald’s Employee Spots Her Stolen SUV In Drive-Thru

Kennewick, WA – A McDonald’s employee in Washington state, having reported her Toyota SUV stolen that morning, eerily encountered her own vehicle in the drive-thru during her shift on Tuesday.

Virginia Maiden awoke to find her SUV gone. It had been parked outside her apartment and had been taken sometime during the night. Maiden reported the theft to Kennewick Police and hitched a ride to work.

During her shift, Maiden noticed a particularly familiar vehicle enter the drive-thru and the occupant place an order. It was after she spotted a McDonald’s visor on the dashboard that Maiden realized it was her stolen SUV, according to CBS News.

Either acting out of arrogance or idiocy, given the employee’s visor was in plain view, the alleged car thief drove the car to an area McDonald’s where the likelihood of someone recognizing it was high.

The suspect, identified later as 22-year-old Katherine York, ordered an ice cream as part of her food order. Maiden quickly formulated a plan and deployed the ever effective, “the ice cream machine is broken” line, and asked the young thief to pull up nearby and wait. I know it’s always broken when I go. But in this case it was simply a ploy to get York to linger around long enough for the authorities to arrive.

Maiden didn’t waste precious time, and called 911. Officers managed to make it in time to nab and arrest the suspect. Upon examining the contents of the vehicle, police found items supposedly stolen from J.C. Penney and Sears, reports ABC News.

York was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle. Local authorities are still investigating York for shoplifting. She was booked into the Benton County Jail.

Many marveled at the odds that Maiden could have been off that day, or simply not working the drive-thru. Instead, she was at the right place at precisely the right time to catch her own criminal.

[Image via Shutterstock]