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Homeless Ex-Con Charged With Assaulting McDonald's Worker In Englewood Over A Soda

A homeless ex-con grabbed a counter worker at a McDonald's in Englewood around the neck when she wouldn't give him a free soda, authorities said.

Walter Alston

Walter Alston

Photo Credit: INSET: BCJ / BACKGROUND: GoogleMaps Street View

Walter Alston, 33, walked behind the counter of the West Palisade Avenue fast-food joint and demanded the drink, then assaulted the mid-30s employee when she refused, poured one for himself and left, Police Lt. Fred Pulice said.

The employee wasn't seriously injured, he said.

Alston, formerly of Lodi, has been known to police for just about all of his adult life, mostly for arrests involving assaults, thefts and other offenses from a decade or so ago. He's recently run afoul of the law again, however.

That includes an arrest for shoplifting last Friday in Teaneck. Police there sent Alston to the Bergen County Jail, only to see a judge release him on Saturday under New Jersey's bail reform law.

Alston was back in the county lockup on Thursday, Sept. 20, following the 11:45 p.m. incident at McDonald's on Wednesday. 

Englewood police charged him with strong-arm robbery.

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