MIKEMUN

Woman in Wendy's Finger Case Arrested

13 minutes ago U.S. National - AP


By CHRISTINA ALMEIDA, Associated Press Writer

LAS VEGAS - The woman who claimed she found a well-manicured finger in her bowl of Wendy's chili last month was arrested at her home Thursday night, police said.


AP Photo
Slideshow: Diner Claims Finger Found In Chili

New $100,000 Reward in Wendy's Chili Finger Case
(AP Video)



Police in San Jose, Calif. — the site of the Wendy's in question — announced the arrest of Anna Ayala in Las Vegas. Police spokesman Enrique Garcia said authorities would not give any details until a news conference Friday.


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 house.


"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.


The arrest is the latest twist in the bizarre case about how the 1 1/2-inch finger tip ended up in a bowl of fast-food chili.


Ayala told police she found the finger March 22 while eating at a Wendy's in San Jose. She said she intended to sue but relented, claiming the publicity was too emotionally taxing.


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, whose story has become a late-night punch line.


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. El Pollo Loco officials say she did not get a dime.


Earlier Thursday, Ohio-based 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.


All the employees at the San Jose store were found to have all their fingers, and no suppliers reported any hand or finger injuries, the company said.


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.


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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...wendy_s_finger

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Bluesman

Starting to sort itself out. This case always had an odor about it.

Defrauders and their lawyers are scum, and the rest of us pay for them not having any morals or work ethics. Straight to hell with all of 'em.

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dalem

I knew, I knew, I just knew this was going to happen. I wish I had posted on a thread about it.

Scumbag grifters oughtta be flogged in public.

-dale

Julie

Press conference today.....wonder what the investigation revealed? Did they ever exhume her aunt's body to find if the finger came from her?

Anon

"Sales have dropped at franchises in Northern California, forcing layoffs and reduced hours, the company said."

Nice, freakin' nice.

Confed999

Nah, ask a liberal, it's Bush's fault.

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Ray

But what about the finger?

Don't tell me that no one saw a finger and went berserk!

Without a finger in the pie or whatever, this is getting confusing.

And anyway, "Ayala" is a bad word in one of the Indian languages i.e. Marathi.

If she come to Mumbai (Bombay) and someone calls her by her name, she could sue that person too!

Julie

Update on the finger in the Wendy's chili case -

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/05/13/we....ap/index.html

Police: Wendy's chili finger identified

SAN JOSE, California (AP) -- Police say the finger that a woman found in a bowl of chili came from an associate of her husband's who lost the digit in an industrial accident.

"The jig is up. The puzzle pieces are beginning to fall into place," Police Chief Rob Davis said.

He said authorities "positively confirmed that this subject was in fact the source of the fingertip."

The man is from Nevada and lost a part of his finger in an accident last December, Davis said. His identity was traced through a lead made to a Wendy's hot line, he said.

Davis said authorities "positively confirmed that this subject was in fact the source of the fingertip."

Anna Ayala, the 39-year-old woman who said she found the finger, was arrested last month at her suburban Las Vegas home.

Ayala maintains she bit down on a 1 1/2 inch-long finger fragment while dining March 22 with her family at a Wendy's in San Jose. She has denied placing the digit in her bowl.

She hired a lawyer and filed a claim against the franchise owner, but dropped the legal fight shortly after police searched her home.

Ayala, who has maintained her innocence, faces a maximum seven-year sentence if convicted of larceny charges, and at least another 16 months if convicted of unrelated charges that she allegedly bilked a woman $11,000 over a soured real estate deal two years ago.

Ayala has been involved in nearly a dozen legal battles, including a sexual harassment suit against an employer, an auto dealer over a car and even another fast-food chain for food poisoning.

Confed999

Seven years isn't enough...

Bluesman

Anybody seen her picture?

I'd post it, but the mods would instantly ban me!

Fugly, man...and quite obviously a wrong 'un. YES, you can tell just by looking.

TopHatter

Oh you just had to make that picture pop up in my head again, didn't you?
Thank you very little

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Bluesman

I know. Sorry.

I saw her for the first time on a TV with the sound down and no graphics to indicate who she was. First thought: criminal, probably crazy, too.