BARTOW, Fla. — Earlier this month, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference to talk about what he called a woman's "violent tantrum" at a McDonald's in Lakeland. That woman is now telling her side of the story.
Lawyers for Tianis Jones, 22, pushed back against the sheriff's comments Friday afternoon outside of the Polk County Courthouse.
"Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd's use of press conferences to ridicule and mock those charged with crimes continues to disrupt individuals’ Due Process Rights," the AsiliA Law Firm wrote in a news release.
The attorneys claim Judd mischaracterized Jones and made of mockery of what happened at the McDonald's in order to create "a viral moment."
On May 20, the Polk County Sheriff's Office sent out a news release describing its account of what happened the previous evening at the fast-food joint.
Deputies say Jones got upset about how long her order was taking in the drive-thru and stormed into the restaurant "enraged."
After complaining to an employee, the sheriff's office says Jones then "turned things violent" by hitting bottles and plastic signs off the counter and storming behind the counter to throw stacks of cups at employees.
Despite being asked to leave multiple times, deputies say Jones stayed inside the restaurant and called 911. As a relative led Jones out of the McDonald's, she lifted her shirt to show her belly then turned and started twerking, the sheriff's office says.
Sheriff Judd held a news conference the same day where he said Jones "went McCrazy for no McReason."
"She's a pretty lady, but she was McMad," Judd said. "I wanna tell Tianis, when she comes to jail, we don't have any McDonald's."
He also shared surveillance video from inside the McDonald's which you can watch in the full news conference below.
Jones was charged with burglary with assault, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and misuse of 911.
“If Ms. Jones’s acts were as serious as the charges reflect, Sheriff Judd’s remarks show a level of insensitivity to the alleged victims concerns," Attorney Jeremy McLymont wrote in a release.
McLymont said Judd's "unprofessional and dangerous comments stand to taint any potential jury pool Ms. Tianis could potentially have in this case."
He explained that Jones has bipolar disorder and depression but has been off of her medication because she is pregnant. Jones' mother Klyvia Vargas joined the news conference to speak about the serious effects Judd's press conference had on her daughter.
"My daughter tried to commit suicide two days after that. And if I wouldn’t have walked in on time, she would’ve been successful," Vargas said.
Jones' lawyers accused Judd of making fun of mental illness and making a mockery of the situation before investigating the whole story.
"Tianis Jones had a bad day," McLymont said. "She snapped. That doesn’t make her a criminal, it makes her a human being."
"Everyone in Polk County should be upset that he spent taxpayer dollars — he had his detectives out looking for Tianis like she was a murderer," the attorney continued. "He had all his officers out looking for Tianis for throwing cups at McDonald's."
Prior to the lawyers' news conference, 10 Tampa Bay reached out to the Polk County Sheriff's Office for comment from Judd. Here is his response:
“Look back at our initial news release on May 20, 2022 and my briefing to the media…we were trying to locate an obviously hostile woman who had committed a felony at McDonald’s. She violently disrupted the business and her actions were threatening toward employees, and then she fled. She knew her outrageous conduct was wrong, but she did it anyway. In other words, if you can’t do the McTime, don’t do the McCrime. We got the result we wanted; she was arrested and charged. She now has some McLawyers to defend her while we’re moving on to other crimes to solve. The next one could be a Whopper."
You can watch Tianis Jones' lawyers' news conference below.