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McD’s Evicts Homeless Man

There are two sides to every story – at least two, I say. And this story from Myrtle Beach, SC, definitely does have two. It involves a homeless man who was treated to lunch by a Good Samaritan only to be kicked out by police at the request of the management. So what really happened?


Here’s Yossi Gallo’s long (8+ min.) all-inclusive video of the McIncident…

A nice guy named Yossi Gallo took a homeless man into a Myrtle Beach McDonald’s and bought him a meal. We assume that the management didn’t like the scruffy street person sitting in their dining room and called police to kick him out. Through the whole thing, Gallo recorded the proceedings on his phone camera.

Police told him and the homeless man that there had been multiple complaints about him panhandling and that he was trespassing. Impossible, said Gallo: stressing that he, Gallo, had brought the man in and bought him his meal unsolicited. Multiple times. The cops kicked the poor homeless guy out anyway, over Gallo’s increasingly insistent protestations.

Okay… I guess the McDonald’s manager has a right to have the homeless guy removed, It’s private property. But was this wise? Fair? Humane? Even necessary?

On the other hand, Gallo – as his video records for posterity – got more and more angry over the situation and ended up shouting at police and the manager until he, too, was asked to leave. Police confirm that both the man eating and Gallo were asked to leave McDonald’s and told they cannot come back.

On the bright side, Gallo was, at least, offered a paper bag to bundle up the food for take-out.

The other side of the story..

That’s where good samaritan Gallo sort of loses his halo. If he’d kept his cool and not raised his voice, I’d be entirely on his side. But he kind of alienated me when he lost it. At the same time, I can understand why he lost it. On yet another hand, I can understand that the McManager had the right to ask the homeless man to leave his property. And on yet another hand, I have a real problem with the manager trumping up accusations of panhandling when Gallo brought the man into the resto without being asked.

Franchise owner Joel Pellicci issued a statement that tells a slightly different story…

At my restaurant, the goal is to provide our customers with a positive and welcoming experience each time they visit. Unfortunately, the individual in this video has a history of disruptive behavior and has been asked to leave by management and police on several occasions. His unpredictable behaviors have created significant concerns for the safety and comfort of our employees and customers. Whereas we are compasionate [sic] of the individuals [sic] situation and admirable of the customers  [sic] generosity, the restaurant acted to remove an individual that has a long history of disruptive and unacceptable behaviors which have negatively affected customer experiences.

The outcome…

Gallo and the homeless man left the restaurant. Gallo told the street person he’d buy the guy lunch somewhere else. The cops didn’t press charges of any kind. The manager apparently went back to doing whatever McManagers do when there’s no clear and present emergency to deal with.

Meanwhile, Gallo’s video has had more than 50 million views on Facebook. Wonder how McDonald’s feels about that?

If only Gallo had ordered the man’s Burger ‘to go’ in the first place…

Maggie J.