• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Woman Won't Sue Wendy's for Alleged Finger

Posted on: Wednesday, 13 April 2005, 21:00 CDT

LAS VEGAS -- A woman who claimed she scooped up a human finger in her chili at a Wendy's restaurant has decided not to sue the fast-food chain, her lawyer said Wednesday.

Anna Ayala is dropping her claim because the police investigations, DNA tests, a search of her home and intense publicity have "been very difficult for her emotionally," Attorney Jeffrey Janoff said.

He would not say if the decision was prompted by a report a woman in Nevada had lost her finger a month earlier in a leopard attack, and that it might be related to Ayala's claim.

Police in San Jose, Calif., said they were investigating a possible connection to Sandy Allman, the owner of several exotic animals who lost her digit in a leopard attack Feb. 23 in Pahrump, 60 miles west of Las Vegas.

"We're talking to the woman who lost the finger," San Jose police spokeswoman Gina Tepoorten said.

Allman's lawyer, Philip Sheldon, said his client had "absolutely no connection with Ms. Ayala."

He said Allman, 59, last saw the tip of her middle finger packed with ice on a hospital emergency room table. She left after doctors told her it couldn't be reattached.

Tepoorten added authorities have gotten tips from around the country about lost digits - including one woman who claimed she lost a finger while breaking up a dog fight "and apparently the hospital lost her finger."

Ayala was visiting relatives in San Jose on Wednesday and could not be reached for comment, said her son, Guadalupe Reyes, 18.

The teenager said Ayala doesn't known Allman. "Mom doesn't even know how to get to Pahrump," Reyes said, adding that his mother was distressed by all the attention.

"The way I see it, it's like a big show," Reyes said. "Everyone's saying this and that. It's ridiculous. People are just trying to get the $50,000" reward offered by Wendy's.

Efforts to contact Allman were unsuccessful.

Tepoorten said Ayala was not considered a suspect. "She's not our main focus in the investigation," Tepoorten said, without elaborating.

Ayala, 39, was at a Wendy's restaurant in San Jose on March 22 when she claimed she scooped up the 1 1/2-inch-long fingertip. She later filed a claim with the franchise owner, Fresno-based JEM Management Corp., which her attorney had said was the first step before filing a lawsuit.

Court records show Ayala has a history of making claims against corporations, including a former employer, General Motors and a fast-food restaurant. She acknowledged getting a settlement several years ago after her daughter was sickened at a Las Vegas restaurant.

"Lies, lies, lies, that's all I am hearing," she said last week after her home was searched last week by police. "They should look at Wendy's. What are they hiding? Why are we being victimized again and again?"

Clark County District Attorney David Roger said Wednesday documents relating to the warrant had been sealed.

Wendy's spokesman Denny Lynch declined to comment on Ayala's decision to drop the lawsuit, but said a reward hot line will stay open. "It's very important to us to find out what really happened at the restaurant," he said.

Wendy's maintains the finger did not enter the chili in its ingredients. All the employees at the San Jose store were found to have all their fingers, and no suppliers of Wendy's ingredients have reported any hand or finger injuries, the company said. Officials also still had not confirmed whether the finger was cooked, as initial news reports indicated.

The Santa Clara County Coroner's Office was using a partial fingerprint to try to find a match in an electronic database but came up empty. DNA testing is still being conducted on the finger.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

More News in this Category