Woman who claimed to find in chili arrested; police call her claim a hoax

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Police investigating how a human finger ended up in a bowl of Wendy's chili said Friday the claim appears to be a hoax.

"Indeed, 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," San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis said.

Wendy's losses exceed $2.5 million, according to the criminal complaint against Anna Ayala, who was arrested at her suburban Las Vegas home Thursday night.

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

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

Ayala, 39, was sitting in a cell at the Clark County jail in Las Vegas as San Jose police held their news conference. Their warrant for her arrest alleges one count related to the Wendy's claim - attempted grand theft because of the financial loss to the fast-food chain - and one count that is unrelated, grand theft of personal property.

Davis would not answer specific questions about the basis for Ayala's arrest or the evidence against her.

"There are individuals who have more information about this at various locations around the country," he said.

A family friend who lives in Ayala's two-story home said he thought police were trying to pressure Ayala with the arrest.

"You know what they're trying to do?" Ken Bono, 24, said, making a motion as if he were breaking a stick with his hands. "How is she a fugitive when she's been out here for four years? She didn't run from anything."

The criminal complaint sheds more light on the incident at the San Jose restaurant.

None of Ayala's family members saw the finger fragment in her mouth, noticing it only after Ayala pointed to the object in the bottom of her chili cup, according to the document. She told a brother-in-law that she had spit it out.

Her father-in-law and mother-in-law told police they saw Ayala throw up, but there was no such evidence at the scene, the complaint says.

It also raises questions about when the finger entered the food stream. The Santa Clara County coroner's office initially concluded that the finger "was not consistent with an object that had been cooked in chili at 170 degrees for three hours."

Wendy's internal investigation found no evidence that the finger came from its supply chain. Employees who were working that day at the restaurant also passed lie-detector tests administered by police, the complaint says.

Ayala's litigious past has been well-documented, including claims she has filed against corporations such as General Motors and El Pollo Loco. The criminal complaint says investigators so far have found 13 civil actions involving Ayala or her children. At times, it says, Ayala has settled cases for cash payouts before the lawsuits have gone to court.

The grand theft allegation contained in the complaint stems from a September 2002 incident in which Ayala sold a trailer home she didn't own to a San Jose woman.