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Chili Finger Lady reveals all to CBS5's Joe Vazquez. Watch the interview . The Chili Finger Lady is back! In an exclusive CBS5 interview, Anna Ayala, out on parole since last April, is not only...
Chili Finger Lady apologizes for Wendy's scam
Chili Finger Lady apologizes for Wendy's scam
Chili Finger Lady reveals all to CBS5's Joe Vazquez. Watch the interview.
The Chili Finger Lady is back! In an exclusive CBS5 interview, Anna Ayala, out on parole since last April, is not only apologizing for the Wendy's scam that riveted and grossed out a nation, but she's also spilling the beans (so to speak) on the infamous digit. She tells reporter Joe Vazquez:
"I'm sorry. it's done. it's over. I just want to move on with my life. i dont' want my family being harassed anymore. i paid back society. I just want to be left alone."
The hoax first erupted in March 2005, when Ayala claimed she found an extra ingredient in her bowl of chili at a Wendy's in San Jose. The Las Vegas resident told Good Morning America she noshed on a fingertip:
"Suddenly, I chew something that's kind of hard, crunchy. I spit it out. At first I wasn't sure what it was. We started investigating and poking it, other people, too. That's when we find there's something that looks like a nail."
(And if you must see the finger, here it is in all its revolting glory).
The finger was planted in a bowl of chili
at this Wendy's in San Jose. (AP photo)
But the scheme unraveled as details of Ayala's litigious past and the chili probe emerged. The case also triggered wild rumors and strange leads about the finger's owner. Some heard that Ayala cut the finger off a dead aunt, while a Nevada woman attacked by a leopard speculated the digit may have been hers. Turns out, the nub belonged to Brian Paul Rossiter, who worked with Ayala's husband Jaime Placencia at a paving firm in Vegas. According to reports, Rossiter lost the finger in a trucking accident. Apparently owing Placencia $50, he repaid his debt (and made an extra 50 bucks) by selling the finger to Placencia for $100.
Ayala and Placencia, who is still in prison, were arrested and that September admitted to trying to swindle money out of Wendy's by making a false insurance claim. They were both sentenced to 9 years in prison. Ayala's sentenced was reduced following an appeal. She was released on parole for good behavior, reports CBS5.
Five years have passed since the escapade and Ayala now hopes her CBS5 interview will help her put the scandal behind her, said Vazquez. As you can see in the interview, Ayala squirms when pressed for details about the finger. But she eventually explains that she cooked it in a batch of chili she had made, keeping the concoction in the freezer for months until the day she drove to Wendy's. There, she apparently poured her chili into a Wendy's container. The scare cost Wendy's a reported $15 mil in sales, according to the Chronicle. Ayala says:
"... I hurt Wendy's. I hurt a lot of people. I hurt my family, my children ..."
She talks about being mocked by inmates, prison violence and another scam involving a mobile home in this extended interview.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/scaven...9#ixzz0huG4Qznk
Chili Finger Lady reveals all to CBS5's Joe Vazquez. Watch the interview . The Chili Finger Lady is back! In an exclusive CBS5 interview, Anna Ayala, out on parole since last April, is not only...
Chili Finger Lady apologizes for Wendy's scam
Chili Finger Lady apologizes for Wendy's scam
Chili Finger Lady reveals all to CBS5's Joe Vazquez. Watch the interview.
The Chili Finger Lady is back! In an exclusive CBS5 interview, Anna Ayala, out on parole since last April, is not only apologizing for the Wendy's scam that riveted and grossed out a nation, but she's also spilling the beans (so to speak) on the infamous digit. She tells reporter Joe Vazquez:
"I'm sorry. it's done. it's over. I just want to move on with my life. i dont' want my family being harassed anymore. i paid back society. I just want to be left alone."
The hoax first erupted in March 2005, when Ayala claimed she found an extra ingredient in her bowl of chili at a Wendy's in San Jose. The Las Vegas resident told Good Morning America she noshed on a fingertip:
"Suddenly, I chew something that's kind of hard, crunchy. I spit it out. At first I wasn't sure what it was. We started investigating and poking it, other people, too. That's when we find there's something that looks like a nail."
(And if you must see the finger, here it is in all its revolting glory).
The finger was planted in a bowl of chili
at this Wendy's in San Jose. (AP photo)
But the scheme unraveled as details of Ayala's litigious past and the chili probe emerged. The case also triggered wild rumors and strange leads about the finger's owner. Some heard that Ayala cut the finger off a dead aunt, while a Nevada woman attacked by a leopard speculated the digit may have been hers. Turns out, the nub belonged to Brian Paul Rossiter, who worked with Ayala's husband Jaime Placencia at a paving firm in Vegas. According to reports, Rossiter lost the finger in a trucking accident. Apparently owing Placencia $50, he repaid his debt (and made an extra 50 bucks) by selling the finger to Placencia for $100.
Ayala and Placencia, who is still in prison, were arrested and that September admitted to trying to swindle money out of Wendy's by making a false insurance claim. They were both sentenced to 9 years in prison. Ayala's sentenced was reduced following an appeal. She was released on parole for good behavior, reports CBS5.
Five years have passed since the escapade and Ayala now hopes her CBS5 interview will help her put the scandal behind her, said Vazquez. As you can see in the interview, Ayala squirms when pressed for details about the finger. But she eventually explains that she cooked it in a batch of chili she had made, keeping the concoction in the freezer for months until the day she drove to Wendy's. There, she apparently poured her chili into a Wendy's container. The scare cost Wendy's a reported $15 mil in sales, according to the Chronicle. Ayala says:
"... I hurt Wendy's. I hurt a lot of people. I hurt my family, my children ..."
She talks about being mocked by inmates, prison violence and another scam involving a mobile home in this extended interview.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/scaven...9#ixzz0huG4Qznk
