McDonald's Metal Pole Fight - Cashier Beats Unruly Customers (VIDEO)

New York (VIA) -- A cashier at a New York fast food restaurant has been charged with felony assault for beating two unruly customers with a metal object during an argument, after cell phone video captured a scene in which one customer climbs across the counter in an apparent attempt to reach the store employee. The women remain hospitalized in serious condition, police said. The incident occurred at a McDonald's on West 3rd Street about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. The two 24-year-old women entered the store, placed their order and then began arguing with the cashier, 31-year-old Rayon McIntosh, police said.

CNN affiliate WCBS said the altercation began when the cashier questioned a $50 bill the women gave him. They responded by hurling obscenities at him. A cell phone video shows how the situation quickly escalated. One of the women curses at the cashier, then reaches over and slaps his face. The woman then climbs over the counter, sending the cashier running toward the kitchen area. The other woman walks around to join her friend. The cashier then suddenly reappears with what police described as a metal object and repeatedly hits the women. Restaurant patrons scream for him to stop, while other employees try to intervene.

The video, one minute and 10 seconds long, shows the cashier hitting the women 10 times as they lay on the floor. "Stop! Stop!" one woman screams. "Stop it! Call the cops!" The cashier would pause and begin again every time the women tried to get up. The two women suffered lacerations to their head and face and were taken to a hospital, police said. One of the women suffered a fractured skull and a broken arm,
according to a complaint filed by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Authorities identified them as Denise Darbeau and Rachael Edwards, and charged them with menacing, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. McIntosh is currently being held at the Manhattan Detention Complex on $40,000 bail. His next court date is set for October 18. The franchise owner Carmen Paulino told CNN affiliate WABC that McIntosh no longer works at the restaurant. "I am extremely disturbed by the events captured on tape and am concerned for those injured," Paulino said. "The actions of this individual are unacceptable and not characteristic of my employees."

McDonald's also released a statement, saying the franchisee is cooperating with the investigation. "The violence in this video is alarming and reprehensible," it said.

Here is some BACKGROUND on what happened at the popular McDonalds in NYC, on 6th avenue and 3rd Street:

The drama began about 12:30 a.m. Thursday when the two customers — Denise Darbeau, 24, of Queens, and her pal, Rachel Edwards, 24, of Brooklyn — entered the popular fast food spot, near Sixth Avenue, and began giving McIntosh a hard time, police sources said.

In the video, Darbeau, 24, of Queens, is clearly heard cursing at McIntosh after the cashier told her he had to scan a $50 bill to make sure it was authentic before he would give them their food.

That's when all hell breaks loose.

An agitated Darbeau is seen slapping McIntosh across the face, prompting him to lunge forward and shove the two women.

Darbeau leaps onto the counter and clears the other side while Edwards retreats to the other end of the restaurant, according to the video. Suddenly, McIntosh reappears on the video, brandishing a metal rod, which he slams onto Darbeau's head.

The video, which has audio, is peppered with patrons screaming and wailing in horror and the chilling sound of the metal rod repeatedly whipping through the air and hitting Darbeau and Edwards. "Stop it! Stop! Stop! Oh my God!” one woman is heard screaming. “Someone call police!”

Fellow workers can be seen on the video unsuccessfully trying to restrain McIntosh. Sources say McIntosh ordered his assailants to stay down, and belted them each time they tried to get up. The continued beating is partially hidden from the camera by the counter.

The two women were taken to the hospital. Darbeau suffered a fractured skull and broken arm which required surgery, according to court documents. She is in stable condition. Edwards suffered a deep cut.

And they picked the WRONG DUDE to mess with. Here's some background on dude:

McIntosh served more than a decade in prison after being convicted of shooting and killing Oshan Litchmore, 17, a classmate at Bronx's Evander Childs High School in 2000, when he was only 19 years old. The two teens were outside Macy’s at the Galleria Mall in Westchester when they got into an argument.

The fatal bullet passed through Litchmore and hit an 8-year-old passerby in the leg.

McIntosh, who presently lives in the Bronx, was sentenced to 10 to 12 1/2 years in prison. He was paroled last March and has been working in the Village McDonald's since then, according to police sources. McIntosh is due back in court Oct. 18.