A lesbian couple was ejected from a Delaware County fast-food eatery last week for allegedly having sex in the bathroom, and was then attacked by a group of patrons.
The June 19 incident took place at a McDonald’s on 69th Street in Upper Darby.
Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said a group of diners complained to a manager that two women had entered the one-person bathroom on the second floor of the store and were having sex. The manager entered and allegedly found the two engaging in a sex act and ordered them to leave. Chitwood said the women, who told police they were not having sex, complied but were verbally harassed by the group that had complained to the manager as they left.
“They said the group was telling them to ‘get out of here, dirty dykes,’” Chitwood said. “And that’s when the fight started.”
The altercation moved outside, and one of the women was stabbed in the back after coming to the aid of her partner.
There were between six and eight attackers, mixed men and women. The stabber, Chitwood said, is believed to be a Hispanic or African-American woman in her 40s who had two children with her. The weapon was a black-handled silver blade.
The group dispersed before police arrived and no suspects have been apprehended.
The victim was transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and has been treated and released. The other woman was not seriously injured, Chitwood said, and refused medical treatment.
The women identified themselves as an engaged couple to police. Chitwood said the incident is not currently being investigated as a hate crime.
“We’re not getting the cooperation we should be getting,” he said. “But we’ll see as the investigation goes on.”
Chitwood said there were surveillance cameras nearby but “we haven’t been able to retrieve it yet because of incompatibility of various technologies. So we’re working on that.”