4 women plead guilty in steak knife attack on Applebee’s waitress

The waitress needed 15 stitches after the attack, which happened July 10 at the Applebee’s restaurant on Industrial Boulevard in McDonough. It started when the four women were having dinner and one of the diners was sitting with her leg out in an aisle.

“The waitress had brushed up against her leg,” McDonough police Maj. Kyle Helgerson said soon after the attack. “There was an initial conversation about that.”

Helgerson said the waitress apologized to the woman and claimed it was an accident. After the women complained about not receiving their food, the waitress went to the kitchen to retrieve it, according to a police report.

“She came back a second time to serve them with food or drinks and brushed up against (the woman) again,” Helgerson said. “That infuriated the suspect.”

The server tried to walk away, but the situation turned violent.

“All four of them got out of the table and began to assault the waitress,” Helgerson said. The women beat and punched the server and one stabbed her in the forearm with the knife, he said.

Fellow diners stepped in to break up the fight, and the women ran out of the restaurant with the stolen tips, according to police. They left their $62.57 bill unpaid.

All four were charged with criminal trespass and battery, Matteucci said. Keterah Boyd and Lakisha Boyd faced additional counts of aggravated assault but were handed lesser sentences under Georgia’s First Offender Act.

In addition to jail time and probation, Keterah Boyd, Lakisha Boyd and Lasondra Boyd were ordered to stay away from the Applebee’s and the victim, take an anger management class, do 100 hours of community service and pay restitution for the victim’s medical expenses and the damage to the restaurant.