Accuser Held in Report of Finger in Chili

A woman who said she found a human finger in her bowl of Wendy’s chili has been arrested and charged with attempted grand theft, but police said Friday that the monthlong mystery surrounding the owner of the digit and how it cropped up in the chili remained unsolved.

Anna Ayala, 39, was taken into custody Thursday night at her Las Vegas home and held without bail at the Clark County Jail in Nevada, according to jailhouse records.

For all the questions that remain, however, one thing is clear: The 35-year-old Wendy’s chain founded by the avuncular Dave Thomas was exonerated Friday of responsibility for the incident, which repulsed many fast-food diners, slashed the company’s sales and provided fodder for late-night comedians.

“If the incident did not occur as Anna Ayala explained it, and people suffered losses, it’s a crime,” San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis said at a news conference in front of the police administration building. “The truest victims in this case are the Wendy’s owners, operators and employees here in San Jose.”

Police said Ayala was arrested on two charges, only one of which -- attempted grand theft -- pertained to the finger investigation. That charge stemmed from the fact that Wendy’s had lost millions of dollars in sales because of what police considered a hoax allegedly cooked up by Ayala.

The fast-food chain also faced losses from a claim Ayala filed against the restaurant’s franchise owner, Fresno-based JEM Management Corp., police said. She later withdrew the claim.

The criminal complaint filed against Ayala by prosecutors said her actions cost Wendy’s at least $2.5 million in lost business.

“She is accused of attempting to steal money from Wendy’s and would steal that money through fraud,” Assistant Dist. Atty. Karyn Sinunu said. “In the attempt to do that, she caused extensive damage to Wendy’s.”

Sales at some of the restaurant’s outlets in Northern California are reported to be down as much as 50% since the finger incident, and many workers have been forced to work reduced hours as a result. Wendy’s representatives said they were still trying to determine the extent of the losses, which extended to Las Vegas, where media attention has been intense.

In San Jose on Friday, nearly a dozen police officers and Wendy’s executives faced 17 television cameras, five satellite trucks, four vans with telescoping towers for broadcasting live, and a phalanx of print journalists and photographers.

Wendy’s officials lavished praise on the San Jose Police Department and other authorities involved in the case.

“From the beginning, we wanted to know what really happened,” said Denny Lynch, senior vice president of communications for Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy’s International Inc. “Now that an arrest has happened, we feel vindicated.”

Police said the investigation is ongoing, and a $100,000 reward offered by Wendy’s for any verifiable information about the origin of the finger still stands.

If convicted, Ayala could spend up to six years and two months in jail, Sinunu said.

In an unrelated case, Ayala was charged with a single count of grand theft for allegedly defrauding a woman of her life savings in a bogus Las Vegas real estate deal. Police did not name the victim but said she lost about $11,000, and was evicted along with her children from the mobile home involved in the fraudulent transaction.

The finger investigation began March 22 when Ayala told police that she found a fingertip, measuring about 1 1/2 inches long, in her chili bowl while eating at a Wendy’s in San Jose.

A statement from a San Jose police officer investigating the complaint said relatives of Ayala claimed that she spat the finger back into the cup of chili and then began to throw up, but no evidence of vomit was found at the scene.

Ayala initially threatened to sue Wendy’s but later relented, saying the publicity was too emotionally overwhelming. Her original attorney withdrew from her case.

Suspicion fell on Ayala after investigations determined that there were no missing digits among the workers involved in the restaurant’s supply chain, and suppliers’ ingredients proved clean.

Ayala, speaking with reporters this month at her Las Vegas home, said police were out to get her. “Lies, lie, lies, that’s all I’m hearing,” Associated Press quoted her as saying. “They should look at Wendy’s. What are they hiding? Why are we being victimized again and again?”

Ayala’s history of making legal claims against corporations also came to light. Court records show that she sued another fast-food restaurant, El Pollo Loco in Las Vegas, after her 13-year-old daughter allegedly got sick after eating at the restaurant. Ayala said she received a $30,000 settlement from the chain, but El Pollo Loco officials denied it.

The investigation subsequently turned from a public health inquiry into “a ‘CSI’-type of investigation,” said Davis, the police chief, referring to the popular television crime series.

It included “the forensic investigation of fingertip tissue” -- authorities unsuccessfully looked for a match in an FBI database -- and a big dose of “excellent gumshoe work,” he said.

The ingredient investigation focused on the components of the chili and was completed by the state Department of Health Services.

“This analysis determined that no evidence existed that the finger specimen came from the production, transportation and/or preparation of the Wendy’s chili,” police said in a statement.

The origin of the finger remains a mystery.

Police investigated the possible connection to a woman who lost part of a finger in a Feb. 23 leopard attack at an exotic animal compound at her home in Pahrump, a rural Nevada town about 60 miles west of Las Vegas. It was unclear whether a link with the leopard attack had been ruled out.

On Friday, an emotional Joseph Desmond, owner of the Wendy’s restaurant where the incident occurred, steadied himself with his cane, leaned on the lectern and thanked everyone from the San Jose and Las Vegas police departments to “the little people, who have been hurt in our stores” to “God, sincerely.”

He appealed to Wendy’s customers to return, asking for their trust in an institution that has been in the Bay Area for 29 years.

As an incentive, Wendy’s is offering free Junior Frostys this weekend at some of its stores in Modesto, Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose, San Francisco and Stockton.

“We think it’s over now,” Desmond said, adding later, “Please come back to Wendy’s. We serve wonderful hamburgers and sandwiches and everything else.”

He did not, however, mention chili.

Times staff writer John Spano contributed to this report.