KANAWHA COUNTY, WV (WOWK) — A man who is accused of attacking a person with a knife during an armed robbery at an Elkview McDonald’s pleaded not guilty in Kanawha County Circuit Court on Monday.

According to the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched to the McDonald’s at the 100 block of Crossings Mall on Jan. 17, after they were told that a man had been robbed and injured with a knife in the restroom.

According to a release, the victim was followed by a McDonald’s employee, later identified as Richard Thornton, into the restroom where he was robbed and stabbed in the face and neck.

The victim was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Richard Thornton was arrested near the Speedway on the 1000 block of Little Sandy Road. KCSO says that Thornton was still in possession of the victim’s wallet and a bloody fixed-blade knife.

According to court records, Thornton was already serving a one-year probation for attempted malicious wounding of emergency service personnel, effective August 18, 2022. That incident happened in September 2019.

Thornton was originally charged with two counts of attempted murder in connection to that incident; however, he accepted a plea agreement to dismiss those charges and seek mental health treatment, according to court records.

In February 2019, Thornton was also charged with burglary, but the charge was dismissed.

Thornton is being charged with first-degree robbery, assault during the commission of a felony and attempted murder.