OT: Woman in Wendy's Finger Case Arrested

dani21496

Cathlete
Thank God...because I really like their chili and haven't had any since I heard about this!!

--------------------------------------------


Woman in Wendy's Finger Case Arrested

By CHRISTINA ALMEIDA
Associated Press Writer
Published April 22, 2005, 7:59 AM CDT


LAS VEGAS -- The woman who claimed she found a finger in her bowl of Wendy's chili last month has been arrested, the latest twist in a bizarre case about how the 1 1/2-inch finger tip ended up in a bowl of fast food.

Anna Ayala was taken into custody late Thursday at her Las Vegas home, police said.

Authorities would not provide details until a news conference Friday in San Jose, Calif. -- the city where Ayala claimed she bit down on the finger in a mouthful of her steamy stew.

Ayala's 18-year-old son, Guadalupe Reyes, said he had gone to the store around 9 p.m. when he got a phone call from a friend who was back at the Las Vegas home.

"We rushed back and she was already gone," Reyes said.

Reyes said he had no other details and was waiting to hear from his mother.

Ohio-based Wendy's International Inc. did not immediately return a call Friday.

Ayala's claim that she found the finger tip, complete with a well-manicured nail, on March 22 initially drew sympathy. But when police and health officials failed to find any missing digits among the workers involved in the restaurant's supply chain, suspicion fell on Ayala, and her story has become a late-night punch line.

Ayala hired a lawyer and filed a claim against the Wendy's franchise owner, Fresno-based JEM Management. But after police searched her home in Las Vegas and continued to question her family, she dropped the lawsuit threat, saying the whole situation was just too stressful.

"Lies, lies, lies, that's all I am hearing," Ayala said after police started questioning her. "They should look at Wendy's. What are they hiding? Why are we being victimized again and again?"

As it turns out, Ayala has a litigious history. She has filed claims against several corporations, including a former employer and General Motors, though it is unclear from court records whether she received any money. She said she got $30,000 from El Pollo Loco after her 13-year-old daughter got sick at one of the chain's Las Vegas-area restaurants. But El Pollo Loco spokeswoman Julie Weeks said last week that the company reviewed Ayala's February 2004 claim and paid her nothing.

Earlier Thursday, Wendy's International Inc. announced it had ended its internal investigation, saying it could find no credible link between the finger and the restaurant chain.

Sales have dropped at franchises in Northern California, forcing layoffs and reduced hours, the company said. Wendy's also has hired private investigators, set up a hot line for tips and offered a $100,000 reward for anyone who provides information leading to the finger's original owner.

* __

Associated Press writers Josh Dubow in San Francisco and Joe Cavaretta in Las Vegas contributed to this report.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-wendys-finger,1,3234741.story


-----------------------------
 
So, I guess my question is, was there ever really a finger? And if there is, where did it come from and have they found it? Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm.......
 
>So, I guess my question is, was there ever really a finger?
>And if there is, where did it come from and have they found
>it? Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm.......

Yes, it was a real finger. They are going to have a press conference some time later today.
 
I'm very happy to hear this too. Wendy's is my favorite fast-food place, although I don't eat there too often since I started caring about my diet. I never believe these things anyway. First of all, if someone working at the restaurant had cut her finger off, they certainly would have known it and known that it fell in the chili! If you lost your finger, you'd be right on finding it and getting it packed in ice so the surgeon could re-attach it!

Then there's the claim that McDonald's and Burger King use meal worms as fillers in their hamburgers. Ridiculous because #1) the people who run these corporations are humans and wouldn't want to eat meal worms either, and #2) meal worms are more expensive, pound for pound, than beef.

It really makes me so angry that there are people out there who use the legal system to try to steal from hard-working business owners. This poor franchise owner has probably all of his life invested into this business, and this low-life criminal just comes in and almost ruins him.

And there are others who invent bogus wrongful termination suits against companies as a form of legalized extortion. They'll bring up an unfounded claim of some sort of harrassment, and the company will settle out of court to avoid the legal fees, investment in time and negative PR. There definitely needs to be some sort of retribution against people filing these lawsuits.

I hope the jerk gets jail time.
 
I am happy that they got to the bottom of this!! It is so SAD what some people will do to make a dollar???

I agree she should have to stay in jail!! I would like to know WHERE she got the finger? Hope she did not kill anyone?? I guess we will have to watch and see what plays out??

Thanks for posting this Dani:D Now I won't have bad feelings about Wendy's anymore!!

~Nicole
 
I read this article this morning. Shame on her.

I didn't know that they had the actual finger. I am curious about this also. Whose finger is it I wonder?

I never believed it was Wendy's fault either. It smelled of a hoax right from the start.

Lori
 
they believe she 'stole' it from a dead relative. this woman also has a history of filing bogus lawsuits.
maddie
 

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top