She really wanted a Whopper

TAMPA -- Maybe she'd seen too many commercials.

A 13-year-old girl demanded to have it her way Saturday morning at a Hillsborough Avenue Burger King.

Little more than an hour after she was released from a juvenile assessment center, the girl barged into the fast food restaurant, brandishing a kitchen knife. There, in bare feet and pajamas, the teen came up to employee Ian Bowers and shouted, "Give me a burger!"

Instead of granting the wish, Bowers ran. The girl chased him through the Burger King kitchen, knife in the air. "Give me a (expletive) cheeseburger now!" she said, according to a witness.

Other employees stopped the girl and held her until police arrived. No one was injured. The girl, whose name is withheld because of her age, told officers she was hungry and wanted a burger.

The teen faces charges of armed burglary, armed robbery, and violation of home detention, police say.

For the record, she didn't get a Whopper. Police returned her to the juvenile assessment center. The lunch options there? Peanut butter and jelly or a bologna sandwich.

-- Abbie VanSickle, Times Staff Writer