Author: Elina Vaidya | Wild About Trial
In the early morning hours of October 12, 2025, what was a late-night McDonald’s drive thru outing became a crime scene within minutes.
Around 3am, 19-year old Peter Story and 18-year old Nicholas Jones arrived at an already chaotic scene at a Davenport McDonalds when they quickly began harassing the now 22-year old employee Yoan Soto. Soto apologized for the delays and explained that the restaurant was overwhelmed with online orders at the time. Despite this, the two customers continued to harass Soto, claiming that they should “think through” how their system works.
This dialogue reached a violent level when Story and Jones began threatening Soto saying that they were going to wait until his shift ended to physically harm him. The two even entered the store to continue the conversation with Soto, presumably making Soto fearful after the threats. In an effort to put this altercation to rest and finish his shift in peace, Soto took out a gun in self-defense, as confirmed by the Polk County Sheriff Department.
However, this incident took a dramatic turn when the two customers attempted to grab the gun out of Soto’s hands when Soto accidentally shot Story in the neck. The gun shot was minor and did not cause significant injury, thankfully.
Story and Jones immediately fled the scene, and Soto chose to grab the shell casings off the floor and join them in fleeing.
Yoan Soto is now being charged with tampering with evidence. Florida Statute §918.13(2)(a) is a third-degree felony that can hold up to 5 years in prison, or 5 years on probation if he gets lucky. Some would say Soto already got lucky by escaping a charge related to him pulling a trigger on someone else.
Peter Story and Nicholas Jones, on the other hand, are facing two misdemeanor charges. The first charge, Florida Statute §810.08(1)(b), trespass after warning, will likely be charged as a first-degree misdemeanor since someone was present in the building at the time of the incident. This could hold up to 1 year in jail and hefty fines. Their second charge is disorderly conduct, Florida Statute §877.03. This is a second-degree misdemeanor, which might put Story and Jones in jail for up to 60 days.
Disorderly conduct or not, watch out the next time you enjoy a late night snack at McDonalds.
