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NASHVILLE — One woman has been arrested and warrants have been issued for others after a free-for-all that damaged a Nashville restaurant, the police chief said.

Officers were dispatched to McDonald’s on South Davis Street at about 10 p.m., Dec. 2, to a large fight at the eatery, Nashville Police Chief Chuck Edwards said in a statement Tuesday. 

When police and Berrien County deputies arrived, they saw 40-50 people in the parking lot, “some gathering, some meandering, some fleeing, with more frantically exiting the building,” he said.

After restoring order, officers reviewed the restaurant’s security camera footage, which showed a large number of people in a “chaotic” brawl inside, the chief said.

A cellphone video of the fight was later posted to social media, showing an adult assaulting a juvenile “without provocation,” Edwards said.

“Additionally, the video showed numerous others fighting with each other and creating such a disturbance that several customers feared for their personal safety,” he said.

During a chaotic mass exit as police were arriving, the front door of the McDonald’s was knocked off its hinges, the chief said.

Arrest warrants were obtained charging Melody Joy Epps, 38, of Nashville with assault/battery and cruelty to children second degree (felony), Edwards said. Epps was booked into the Berrien County Jail Monday, the chief said.

Edwards said he ordered warrants for affray (fighting in a public place) or similar charges be taken out against every person seen fighting who could be identified.

As of Tuesday afternoon, warrants for an additional nine people had been applied for and more are expected as the investigation continues, Edwards said.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.