“The pain that he caused to my son is excruciating,” Jacob Smith’s mom said of his attacker.

Jacob Smith.Credit : GoFundMe

A McDonald’s employee is in the hospital after one of his co-workers allegedly threw hot oil on him.

On Saturday, June 6, Jacob Smith, 20, was working as a shift manager at a Northern California McDonald’s when he was allegedly attacked by another employee who left the restaurant before police arrived, according to ABC 10, CBS News and KCRA.

Following the incident, Yuba City Police Lt. Michael Bullard told ABC 10 that “the victim was up walking around ambulatory and able to communicate with them, but had obvious burn marks on his upper torso and his face area.”

Investigators also stated that the alleged attacker, identified as 23-year-old Jalani Bluett, was later found and arrested by the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office shortly after midnight local time.

Jacob Smith.gofundme

Before Bluett was found, the sheriff’s office asked for the public’s assistance in locating the man as he was “considered at risk due to a diagnosis and vulnerabilities.”

During Bluett’s arraignment on June 6, Bullard told ABC 10 that Bluett was “held to answer on assault with a deadly weapon, mayhem, serious felony assault resulting in great bodily injury, and he was held to answer on that at the arraignment, and currently he is being held in Sutter County with no bail.”

After Jacob sustained burns to the side of his face, neck, right arm and back, his mother, Amber Smith, told KCRA that her son was preparing to end his shift when he was suddenly assaulted and given second-degree burns over 22 percent of his body.

McDonald’s restaurant (stock image).ADAM GRAY/AFP via Getty

“He was in the office getting ready to count the money when he saw out of the corner of his eye something, and he just turned, and the oil was just thrown on him,” Amber alleged. “The pain he’s experiencing is so excruciating that they can’t give him a level of pain medicine outside of the ICU.”

“I want justice to be served. I want him to serve the time he needs to serve for what he’s done to my son,” Amber continued of Bluett. “I mean, I don’t wish bad things towards him. I just want him to understand that what he did — really understand what he did — and the pain that he caused to my son is excruciating.”

In a statement to PEOPLE, John Cook, the owner and operator of the McDonald’s location, said, “The serious incident that took place at our restaurant this past weekend is deeply concerning, and our focus is on supporting our employee, Jacob, as he recovers.”

“The safety and well-being of our employees, guests and community remain our top priority,” Smith continued. “The other individual involved is no longer employed by our organization, and we are fully cooperating with local law enforcement as they continue their investigation.”

Jalani Bluett.Sutter County Sheriff’s Office

In a GoFundMe created to support Jacob in his recovery, Amber shared that he is scheduled for skin graft surgery later this week “because there are some places that are pretty deep burns.”

She also included a message from her son, who thanked God for bringing out “the best possible result in the worst situation.”

“As much as I want to be angry, or want to hate people and be scared of people, it’s just so hard to be when I have so many people showing their love for me,” Jacob wrote. “I’m not sad, and I’m not angry, and the pain doesn’t cause me grief because I know it’s necessary to heal. I’m so thankful for everybody.”

“Thank you to God for saving my eye and giving me awesome family and friends,” he continued. “Thank you to my family for being so incredibly supportive and loving and lifting me up in my time of need. Thank you to my friends who have shown so much care and taken time out of their own schedules to check on me every day.”

SOURCE: https://people.com/mcdonalds-employee-in-icu-after-co-worker-allegedly-threw-hot-oil-on-him-11992739