Chili-finger couple goes down…

Considering how much I blogged about this...figured I better drop this update

A couple who planted a severed finger in a bowl of Wendy’s chili in a scheme to extort money from the fast-food chain were sentenced Wednesday to prison terms of at least nine years.

Anna Ayala, 40, who said she bit into the digit, was sentenced to nine years. Her husband, Jaime Plascencia, 44, who obtained the finger from a co-worker who lost it in a workplace accident, was sentenced to more than 12 years.

Ha.  They’ll be going down for quite some time.  Good.

Posted by JimK at 05:56 PM on January 18, 2006
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Categories: Crime and Criminals,  Anna Ayala
Tags: Ayala Wendy's chili

Update on the Wendys chili finger

They pled guilty.

The Las Vegas couple accused of planting a human finger in a bowl of Wendy’s chili pleaded guilty Friday in a San Jose courtroom to all of the charges against them.

Anna Ayala, 39, and Jaime Placencia, 43, faced charges of felony conspiracy and attempted grand theft in connection with the March 22 incident in which Ayala claimed to have bitten into the fingertip while eating chili with her in-laws at a San Jose Wendy’s.

If given the maximum sentence on Nov. 2, Ayala could face nine years and eight months in state prison, while Placencia faces 13 years. Santa Clara County Superior County Judge Edward Davila also told the couple they could be sentenced to probation.

Whatever it is, it won’t be enough.  Somewhere out there some moron is planning another scam like this right now.  And another “evil” company will lose millions because of it.

Posted by JimK at 07:00 AM on September 10, 2005
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Categories: Crime and Criminals,  Anna Ayala

Ha!  The TIP line…get it?  TIP!

Busted.

The fingertip found in a bowl of chili came from a man who lost it in an industrial accident in December and gave it to the husband of the woman who claimed she found it at Wendy’s, San Jose Police announced today.

“The truth is beginning to be exposed,” said San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis this morning.

Davis said tests have confirmed that the finger came from a friend of Anna Ayala’s husband.

“It was determined he had lost a portion of his finger in an industrial accident last year, and that he is an associate of Jaime Plascencia, the husband of Anna Ayala, the woman who claimed to have found a finger in a bowl of Wendy’s chili,” Davis said today.

The tip that led to solving the bizarre case came from a national hotline set up by Wendy’s, which had contended from the beginning that the firm was not responsible for the appearance of the finger in the bowl of chili.

“Based on the reported evidence, there can be no doubt that we are completely vindicated,” said Tom Mueller, Wendy’s president of North America operations.

Let me expand my previous statement on this.  I hope that Wendys sues the Ayala whore, her stupid husband and the friend that gave up the fingertip if he was complicit.

You know, there is a slim chance that they might have gotten away with this if they had thought to buy a cup of Wendys chili and simmered the finger in it before they tried the scam.  Never underestimate the stupidity of your average criminal.

Posted by JimK at 09:09 AM on May 14, 2005
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Categories: Crime and Criminals,  Anna Ayala

Cops point the (chili) finger at Ayala

I hate to say ”I told you so, “ but...oh who am I kidding, I love to say “I told you so.”

Police investigating how a human finger ended up in a woman’s bowl of Wendy’s chili declared the claim a hoax Friday and arrested her on charges of attempted grand larceny.

The arrest of Anna Ayala at her home outside Las Vegas was the latest twist in a case that has become a late-night punch line, taken a bite out of Wendy’s sales and forced the fast-food chain to check its employees for missing fingers.

Ayala, 39, claimed she bit down on the well-manicured, 1 1/2-inch finger in a mouthful of her steamy chili on March 22 in San Jose. She had hired a lawyer and filed a claim against the Wendy’s franchise owner, but dropped the lawsuit threat soon after suspicion fell on her.

When asked whether police considered Ayala’s claim a hoax, David Keneller, captain of the San Jose police department’s investigations bureau, said yes.

“What we have found is that thus far our evidence suggests the truest victims in this case are indeed the Wendy’s owner, operators and employees here in San Jose,” Police Chief Rob Davis said.

Cue Nelson laugh: HA-ha.  I hope she does jail time and Wendy’s sues her ass into the dirt.  People like her make it hard to impossible for people who are legitimately damaged by the actions of businesses to get judgements.  Screw her.

Posted by JimK at 01:22 AM on April 23, 2005
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Categories: News,  Crime and Criminals,  Anna Ayala,  The Stupidity Of Man

More on the Wendy’s fingertip

This story is behind a registration link, so… Nevada woman’s finger doesn’t match one found in Wendy’s chili

San Jose investigators searching for the owner of the finger found in a bowl of Wendy’s chili determined this much today—it didn’t belong to the Nevada woman who had her finger tip bit off by a grumpy leopard in February.

Much speculation had been swirling around nine-fingered Sandy Allman, whose lost finger-tip looked very similar to the one that turned up last month at a Wendy’s restaurant in South San Jose.

She last saw it at a Las Vegas hospital. Anna Ayala, the woman who found the finger in her chili, also lives in Las Vegas.

But the story ends there.

At about 3 p.m. the Nye County Sheriff’s office sent a copy of Allman’s fingerprints to San Jose investigators. After a quick look, the agency determined they didn’t match.

``There is no connection,’’ said Sheriff Tony DeMeo.

Gil Grissom would have figured this out by now.  ;) All jokes aside, I’ll be very, very interested to know whose finger this is and how Ayala got it.

Posted by JimK at 03:14 AM on April 16, 2005
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Categories: Other,  Crime and Criminals,  Anna Ayala

I told you so…

Yeah, because if she was telling the truth, she’d really quit, right?

A woman who claimed she scooped up a human finger in her chili at a Wendy’s restaurant (search) has decided not to sue the fast-food chain.

Anna Ayala (search) dropped her claim because it “has caused her great emotional distress and continues to be difficult emotionally,” said her attorney, Jeffrey Janoff.

Oh please.  She’s a lying whore and Wendy’s should sue her ass into bankruptcy for the damage her fraud has done to their business.

Besides…

San Jose police say they’re investigating a possible connection between the finger and the owner of several exotic animals at Pahrump, Nev., who lost one of her fingers in a leopard attack on Feb. 23.

Interesting, no?

Police in California say they’re checking out a possible lead in the case involving an allegedly contaminated bowl of Wendy’s chili.

San Jose police are investigating the case of a woman who lost part of her finger in a leopard attack. The woman, who has several exotic animals, reportedly got the finger back in a bag of ice, after doctors couldn’t re-attach it. She lives in a town about 45 miles north of Las Vegas.

A month after that attack, a Las Vegas woman reported biting into a human finger while eating a bowl of Wendy’s chili. Today, the woman’s lawyer confirmed that she’s decided not to sue.

That word comes a day after an animal sanctuary employee called a Wendy’s hotline to suggest the finger might be linked to the February leopard attack.

Wendy’s has maintained the finger allegedly found in the chili had not been cooked, and that it didn’t enter the supply chain as part of its ingredients.

Which is what I said all along.

Hat tip to nastynate for pointing out the story about Ayala quitting.

Posted by JimK at 01:16 AM on April 14, 2005
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Categories: Other,  Crime and Criminals,  Anna Ayala

Wendy’s ain’t playin’!

I guess the company is mad as hell.  Can’t say as I blame them, although with the loss of business lately, they should probably up the reward, it would be worth it.

Wendy’s is now offering a $50,000 reward to find out the origin of the finger found in a bowl of chili at a San Jose restaurant.

Anna Ayala claims she bit into the finger, but the fast food company says there’s no credible evidence that Wendy’s was the source of the foreign object.

Las Vegas police actually raided Ayala’s home this week, but they’re not saying what they were looking for.

If you know anything about the incident, call 1-800-821-3348 to claim the $50,000 reward.

I hope that when this is all over, they sue the crap out of this woman.

Posted by JimK at 09:50 PM on April 11, 2005
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Categories: Other,  The Stupidity Of Man,  Crime and Criminals,  Anna Ayala

I got a finger for you, lady…

Lost of people have now talked about the finger found in a bowl of Wendy’s chili and how the latest is the cops are looking at the woman who made the claim.

Authorities are now taking a closer look at the woman who claims she found a finger in her chili at a Wendy’s restaurant in San Jose.
K-G-O T-V is reporting that police say they served a search warrant yesterday at the Las Vegas home of Ana Ayala. She’s the woman who says she bit into the finger in her chili on March 27th.

In the warrant, police say that the finger could belong to Ayala’s deceased aunt.

San Jose police aren’t saying what they did or didn’t find at Ayala’s home.

Forensic experts found no match among 50 (m) million fingerprints in the F-B-I database.

Over at Wizbang, Kevin notes that It’s starting to look more and more like a shakedown. I agree.

I meant to blog about this from jump because I had a take no one else seemed to have.  See, I worked at Wendy’s all through high school.  I was Assistant Manager of the Western Avenue store in Albany NY by the time I graduated.  I have made Wendy’s chili more times than I can remember, and I knew the finger story was bullshit the first time I saw it.

Wendy’s chili is about the most simple thing you can imagine once you know where they keep the ingredients.  The meat is made up of damaged and left-over burgers from the day’s business.  When you work the grill, if a patty breaks or the order is canceled before the sandwich is assembled, or you just cook too many, burn one, etc., the patty is tossed in a metal half-bin (about 9x10x4) that sits in the prep table next to the grill.  It’s refrigerated, and when full transferred to the walk-in cooler.  The next day, that full half- bin is taken to the back kitchen stove and dumped in a big ole bin that sits on the burners and is set to simmer for *hours*.  The goal here is to cook it all uniformly and remove as much excess fat as possible.  Then you take two spatulas and do one of the only fun jobs at Wendy’s: you chop and smash the meat until it’s all itty-bitty and small.

The meat is drained, and one then goes to the dry goods storage for a sealed pre-mixed packet of dried chili seasoning.  Dump that in.  Grab two cans of “chili tomato sauce.” Grab one can of light beans and one can of dark.  Dump all that in.  Then you go to the freezer for a bag of pre-cut, flash-frozen onions and peppers.  Dump that in.  Cook the whole thing for two hours or so, and bam...Wendy’s Chili.

If you have ever actually done the procedure, you’d know there is at NO time any way for a finger to slip it’s way in except in the cans of tomato sauce or beans.  And because of the cans, the way you have to open and pour them...well, the odds of not seeing a finger?  Something that is ten times larger than any other single thing in the mix?  I cannot even fathom how the dumbest of all foodservice workers wouldn’t see it.  You have to stir and stir and stir the chili for hours to make sure it’s all mixed according to specs.  I can recall stirring a batch and recognizing particular pieces of meat by shape and color I had to stare at the batch so long.  It just doesn’t seem possible to me to miss a finger.  I suspect anyone else who has worked there knows just how silly the whole thing is as well.

I think the bitch is lying.  I hope Wendy’s sues her and bankrupts her for the rest of her natural life.

Posted by JimK at 12:29 PM on April 09, 2005
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Categories: Other,  The Stupidity Of Man,  Crime and Criminals,  Anna Ayala