Battle turns to birth at restaurant

That will be one cheeseburger, two cokes and a little baby to go. A woman went into labor outside the Burger King at 40th and Walnut streets last night after witnessing a fight between her sister and an employee of the restaurant. Witnesses said last night that a fight started between the employee and customer inside the restaurant around 7:30 p.m. They said they do not know what the fight was about, but that the customer threw a drink at the employee and left. The employee began fighting with another employee, and then the customer walked back in and started fighting again. The women went outside to continue the fight, witnesses said. Police arrived at the scene soon after and the two women were separated. As police were handling the dispute, bystanders pointed to a car with a baby in it and yelled, "the baby, the baby," University Police Sergeant Larry Salotti said last night. The officers turned and found a baby in a jeep by itself. They took the baby, who belonged to the fighting customer, out of the car and put it into a police car, Salotti said. The mother of the baby and two of her cousins, misinterpreted the officer's intentions and attacked him, scratching his eye and damaging the police car, Salotti said. At that point, the customer's sister -- who was eight months pregnant -- went into labor. Police rushed the pregnant woman, her sister and the baby to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. A witness, Darryl Jones of West Philadelphia, said he saw that one of the women had a knife, but police did not confirm this. Salotti said that although some bystanders might have thought a serious crime had occured, it was simply a minor dispute with a happy ending. Dozens of onlookers gathered around 40th and Walnut streets to watch the scene. Staff Writer Cara Tanamachi contributed to this story.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.