ATHENS, Ga. – A college student accused of hitting two McDonald's customers with her car after a dispute over who was next in line was ordered held Wednesday on $3,000 bond for each of two counts of aggravated assault.
Ruth Driscoll-Dunn, a 24-year-old student at the University of Georgia, was arrested Tuesday.
Video from the fast-food restaurant caught a partial license plate of the vehicle, which led authorities to Driscoll-Dunn, said Athens-Clarke County Police Detective Jeff Clark.
"Basically, she admitted to hitting the victim. However, she said there were other circumstances relating to the collision," the detective said. He said the suspect claimed the other two women "provoked the incident."
The dispute started when Melinda Ann Thomas, 34, and her mother, Linda Ann Thomas, 51, stepped to the front of a crowded restaurant line Saturday morning, police said. When they later left, a driver in the parking lot struck both with the side of her Jeep, police said. Neither woman was badly injured, according to the police report.
The restaurant incident came within three months of a fatal attack at a McDonald's in Covington, about 30 miles southwest of Athens. On May 23, a man ran over two women and their three children, killing a 2-year-old. Lanny Perry Barnes is facing murder and aggravated assault charges. Authorities have said they haven't determined a motive.
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