Posted on 05/15/2005 5:21:06 AM PDT by billorites
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The finger that a woman claimed she found in a bowl of Wendy's chili was severed in the tailgate of a truck during a work accident, an employee of an asphalt company said. Pat Hogue, an estimator with a Las Vegas asphalt maintenance company, told the San Francisco Chronicle for a story in Sunday's editions that a man he was working with lost the tip of his finger on a job five months ago.
Both men were working with James Plascencia, the husband of Anna Ayala - the Las Vegas woman who claimed she found the finger in a bowl of chili at a Wendy's restaurant in San Jose, Hogue told the paper.
Authorities believe the injured man gave the finger to Plascencia. Ayala is accused of trying to shake down the fast-food giant with a bogus tainted-food claim.
"I saw it on the news. I didn't know the lady at first was married to that James guy until after he was arrested," Hogue said in a telephone interview from his home in North Las Vegas.
Hogue and investigators have refused to identify the man with the severed finger, but police have said he's cooperating with authorities.
Ayala, 39, is in jail on suspicion of attempted grand theft. She claimed she bit into the finger on March 22 and filed a claim against the restaurant chain shortly afterward. The publicity resulted in a major loss of business for Wendy's.
Ayala later withdrew her claim as she came under scrutiny and investigators found at least 13 cases in which she has filed claims in her name or her children's.
Plascencia, 43, is being held in a Las Vegas jail on unrelated charges. He is awaiting extradition to California.
San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis said a tipster led investigators to the Nevada man with the missing finger. Investigators have refused to say how the finger was preserved or transported from Las Vegas to San Jose.
Police said more arrests were possible.
The chili thickens...
My goodness.
Free small frosty this weekend at Wendy's.
At the height of this, I purposely bought a chili at Wendy's when I heard of the monetary impact to the company. I would urge others to double there spending there in order for this company to recoup its losses.
That reminds me, free Frosties as Wendy's this weekend.
Memo to self: Check for chunks.
Especially if you're a stockholder.
lol
You've got to be kidding. Surely there must be charities more deserving of generosity than a fast-food chain?
Especially if you believe in truth and justice. Morals aren't just for comic books anymore. I could never understand that so few realize that corporations are people. Healthy commerce is one of the best forms of benefitting a population there is.
I thought the whole story was declared a hoax, when nobody came forward to report a missing finger and it was discovered that Ms. Ayala routinely files frivolous lawsuits.
On the other hand, there's the joke Argus Hamilton told about the matter. He said that North Koreans are so hungry that the Pyongyang Wendy's promises there will be a finger in every chili bowl.
I was trying to be cute. You are so right. The food service industry is the largest employer in the US and every one of those corporations and it's employees are at the mercy of criminals such as these.
never before in the history of the universe have those particular words ever been placed in that particular order
See my post #10. How this notion that just because a business is large somehow makes it evil, is one of the greatest "big lies" ever perpetuated in human history. Big business has done more to improve the lives of more people than any Communist notion ever has.
I'm just Amazed! This Chili story gets juicier and jucier...Ayala, that must the the juiciest finger you've ever sucked hahahahahahaha
Here is one....http://www.davethomasfoundationforadoption.org/
An aside.
Years ago when KFC went into mainland China, there was a story about how, "Finger Lickin' Good" didn't translate the way they wanted it to.
In Chinese it meant, "So good you'll suck your fingers." (or something like that)
Authorities believe the injured man gave the finger to Plascencia.
Having seen the B&W photograph of the finger in question, I'm wondering if Ayala touched it up w/ an artifical nail.
BTW, I wonder how much Workmans' Comp pays for a severed digit these days. (Assuming the injured worker is a citizen.) If not a citizen, who thinks that Ayala & co would have given the dude his slice of the lawsuit settlement at the end of the rainbow?
Yep. I had my Frosty yesterday, and a cup of finger-free chili.
Yep, you pegged me...I'm a commie. Good grief.
Big business may not be evil, but quasi-religious devotion to big business surely is. If you want to give money to a good cause, put down the Ayn Rand and find a good local charity.
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