Women indicted after fight with Jamaican cook

A grand jury has indicted two women for attacking a Jamaica-born McDonald's cook who beat them with a metal rod and was cleared by the same grand jury.

Prosecutors said Denise Darbeau and Rachel Edwards, both 24, will face felony charges in the raucous confrontation with Rayon McIntosh, 31, at the West Village, Manhattan, fast-food eatery on October 13.

The Manhattan district attorney's office said that the exact charges against Darbeau and Edwards, one of whom sustained a fractured skull, will not be made public until their arraignment on January 11.

Theodore Herlich, McIntosh's lawyer, said his client was not looking for trouble and feared for his life when he inspected a US$50 bill that the women presented.

"He wasn't looking for trouble, and they were. And so that's why I think the grand jury's results make sense," Herlich said.

But Harold Baker, a lawyer for the women, said he is confounded by the indictment, speculating that his clients may be arraigned on burglary charges.

"The guy that does the beating gets to walk out the door, and the people he beats end up getting charged," he said, adding "it seems backward to me."

McIntosh said he was simply defending himself after Darbeau hit him in the face, and both irate women went menacingly after him behind the counter.

"My life was in danger. Females do murder men. I displayed a lot of patience. I was in fear for my life."

A video of the fracas, shot by another customer, shows McIntosh grabbing a metal grill-cleaning tool and hitting the women.

Darbeau was left with a fractured skull, broken arm and neurological damage, and Edwards' injuries included a serious cut to her face, Baker said.