Fingered!

Leslie

Leslie

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Staff member
The finger finally has pointed to Anna Ayala -- the woman at the center of the Wendy's chili mystery.

San Jose police confirmed that Ayala, 39, was arrested Thursday night in Las Vegas in connection with the incident but would not elaborate on the details until a news conference today. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Juanita Goode said Ayala was brought in handcuffs to the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas where she was booked on charges of grand larceny and attempted grand larceny.

Ayala claimed to have discovered part of a human finger in her chili at a San Jose Wendy's restaurant on March 22, leading to weeks of speculation about the origin of the finger.

Goode said San Jose police made the arrest with the assistance of Las Vegas police about 8:45 p.m. and that it was likely Ayala would have an extradition hearing before she is brought to San Jose.

San Jose police spokesman Enrique Garcia confirmed the arrest. ``She was arrested in Las Vegas tonight involving the Wendy's investigation, but we're not divulging the particulars about the arrest until the press conference,'' he said Thursday.

Ken Bono, who answered the phone at Ayala's Las Vegas home Thursday, said police arrested her about 9 p.m., but he did not know why. Bono said he had left for the store and when he returned she was gone but that police from San Jose and Las Vegas had left their business cards.

``That's brand new news to us,'' said Denny Lynch, a Wendy's spokesman, who was not aware of the arrest when contacted by the Mercury News late Thursday. ``It's too early for us to make a comment until we discuss this matter with police.'' He said that he would attend the news conference, if possible. ``We will be there,'' he said.

The arrest is the latest chapter in the case, which has made nationwide news. Over the past four weeks, the cloud of suspicion moved from the fast-food restaurant, which Thursday closed its internal investigation of the matter, to Ayala.

Earlier this month, police searched her Las Vegas home, and Ayala dropped plans to take legal action against the chain.

Ayala and her family claimed police were harassing them during the April 7 search and continued to make those charges before her arrest Thursday night.

``Wendy's has the money, and they can destroy a little person,'' a woman at Ayala's house who said she was her sister, but declined to give her name said early Thursday. ``What if my sister was a white man in a suit? The whole nation would have been sympathetic, but she's a little Latina.''

The woman said Ayala did not want to talk publicly because ``she just wants to get better. Emotionally. That's all that's important right now, family.''

Ever since Ayala said she found the finger in her chili at Wendy's on Monterey Road in San Jose, ``they've dragged her through the mud,'' her sister said, adding that Ayala's daughter can't attend school because she is taunted by her classmates.

The sister also said Ayala's story has not changed since the beginning -- and would not change.

``The facts will always be the same,'' she said. ``But the way they handled it, the way the police put a gun to my niece's head when the search warrant was served -- they have destroyed my sister and her family. God will not leave it like this.''

Wendy's made two announcements before the arrest Thursday: Bay Area Wendy's will give a free junior Frosty to customers dropping by on Saturday and Sunday, and the finger didn't come from them.

``The investigation confirmed that there is no evidence whatsoever that Wendy's, its employees or its suppliers were involved in this matter,'' officials said in a news release.

The officials also said business in the Bay Area, where media coverage has been most intense, has dropped between 30 and 50 percent, ``resulting in cutbacks and reduced hours'' for Wendy's workers.
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sorry 'bout the registration-only link

She's forevermore killed Wendy's chili for me. I could barely choke it down before. Now it'll just be unpossible.
 
I wouldn't assume anything just yet. If this woman was arrested for grand larceny, does that mean she stole the finger from a morgue or something? What other reason could they have to charge her with grand larceny? Did they find something stolen when they searched her house?

Maybe she put the finger there herself and Wendy's sales are being hurt because of it. Not like this has never happened before.
 
Just saw the press conference on an "unnamed news network" and they said she was arrested on one count of grand larceny (for the house) and one count of attempted grand larceny (for the Wendy's thing). They didn't mention where the finger had come from. I thought I'd heard a relative of hers had lost a finger recently?
 
grand larceny (for the house)
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she stole a house? :confuse3:

What I read on FARK some time ago was that there was a person who had their finger bitten off by a (tiger, leopard, lion, something) at a zoo, and it wasn't reattachable. Photos of that and the chilifinger matched exactly to my eyes. Apparently they let you take the finger home in a jar if they can't reattach it? :eek6:
 
Leslie said:
Apparently they let you take the finger home in a jar if they can't reattach it? :eek6:
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After this they may not ,but you would think DNAin it would be easy if it was a family members finger.
 
Leslie said:
she stole a house? :confuse3:

What I read on FARK some time ago was that there was a person who had their finger bitten off by a (tiger, leopard, lion, something) at a zoo, and it wasn't reattachable. Photos of that and the chilifinger matched exactly to my eyes. Apparently they let you take the finger home in a jar if they can't reattach it? :eek6:
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She stole the money someone made as a down payment for a house as I understand it.

[Buh buh buh bing] Or would you like to swing on a star
Carry fingers home in a jar...[/Buh buh buh bing]
 
chcr said:
She stole the money someone made as a down payment for a house as I understand it.

[Jiminy Cricket] Or would you like to swing on a star
Carry fingers home in a jar...[/Jiminy Cricket]
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:hmm: That's Bing Crosby, you charlatain...:hmm: :grinyes:
 
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Las Vegas woman arrested after saying she found a human finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili told a court on Tuesday that she will not fight extradition to California where the incident occurred.


Canadian Press
Slideshow: Diner Claims Finger Found In Chili

Police Arrest Woman Who Reported Finger in Chili
(AP Video)



Anna Ayala attracted nationwide media attention after she said last month that she bit into a finger in a bowl of chili served at a San Jose, California restaurant of the third largest U.S. hamburger chain.


Ayala has been charged with attempted grand theft for the millions of dollars Wendy's lost as a result of the negative publicity. Police believe she planted the finger in her food.


Ayala, 39, waived extradition on Tuesday in a Las Vegas court, said David Boyd, the deputy Santa Clara County district attorney handling her case.


San Jose police are now ready to travel to Las Vegas to return Ayala to California, he said. "She'll be arraigned here in Santa Clara County sometime after she arrives," Boyd said.


Ayala has said she did not plant the finger in the chili.


The origins of the finger remain a mystery. Boyd declined to comment on the San Jose police investigation into the matter. None of the employees at the Wendy's where Ayala dined are missing digits, and Wendy's International Inc. has said its suppliers have ruled out industrial accidents as potential sources for the finger.


Ayala's attorney said she was ready to face the charges in California. Ayala is also suspected of bilking a San Jose area woman out of $11,000.
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source
 
I knew it. When was the last time there was a story of finding a rodent, finger, roach, whatever in fast food and it actually being real? You hear lots of these stories, but not necessarily the outcome. Time to take a look at Snopes.
 
Gato_Solo said:
Only one question remains...Why is she threatened with less time than her husband, when she was the initiator of the plot?
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Poster_8112.jpg
 
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