It has been over two weeks and the family of the assistant manager, Bianca Palomera, 19, is still asking for justice.
For the crew and customers of Habit Burger Grill in Antioch, California, it was the usual busy late afternoon. It was a weekend, November 12, 2022, when four individuals, all wearing dark-colored clothes, went inside the fast-food chain.
Palomera noticed one individual who went to a young boy with special needs.
There, she noticed that the man was bullying him. He kept on asking the boy what’s his problem and why was he was looking at them.
As an assistant manager and a concerned citizen, Palomera called out the man.
She approached him and explained that the boy has special needs.
She calmly educated them about the young boy’s condition. The special-needs boy was there waiting for his big brother, one of Palomera’s co-workers.
Unfortunately, instead of realizing his mistake, the man became more infuriated. He turned his attention to the assistant manager and went close to her face while calling her names.
The man, who they think was just around 16 – 21 years old, was full of hatred and anger, and it caught Palomera off-guard when he hit her straight to her face.
Then, the man in a fur-trimmed jacket was about to leave, but Palomera grabbed him.
In a split second, he punched her again. This time, you will clearly see her head tilting back.
By this time, several crew members and guests got involved and moved Palomera to the side.
According to the brave young woman, she thought she was crying. Then, she started noticing faster drops of what she thought were tears.
It turns out her eye was bleeding.
“He punched me once, and my headset and my glasses went flying off my face,” Palomera said to KTVU.
Around the same time, the CCTV caught the suspects fleeing the scene in a silver BMW.
Soon, they rushed Palomera to the hospital where the doctors tried to save her eye, but the damage was so severe that they had to remove it completely, leaving the young woman blind in one eye.
Palomera’s sister posted a Facebook plea to everyone near the area to help their family in finding the man who did this to her sister.
Unfortunately, until now, the police have no leads.
They had set a GoFundMe up for Palomeras’ medical expenses and had already reached $148,178 USD of their $165,000 goal.
The story went viral, and many people showed their appreciation, love, and well-wishes to the brave young woman who risked her life for a special-needs boy.
“At the end of the day, if you won’t do it, nobody else would. I felt that I had to step in,” said Palomera.
Palomera said she is still willing to work at the same company but on a different branch, especially after the traumatic incident.
Everyone who has seen the video feels so proud of this young heroic woman, but also prays and wishes that justice will be served.
If you know anyone near the area, please do share this Facebook post.
Watch the full feature below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
