Co, WA. Dispatch advised the reporting person, Maria Ayala-Rodriguez, stated a female coworker had punched her in the face.
I met Ayala in front of the restaurant. It should be noted I did not observed any injuries or redness on Ayala's face.
Ayala told me she works as a waitress at Las Margaritas and tonight a female coworker, Maria Rojas, slapped her in the face with an open hand.
I asked Ayala what had happened prior to the slap, and she said while she was working Rojas confronted her and told her not to yell at her. Ayala said she was not sure what Rojas was referring to, …show more content…
but thought it might have been when she asked Rojas to get silverware for a table. Ayala went on to say she told Rojas she never yelled at her and walked away.
Ayala said Rojas followed her through the restaurant and continued telling her not to yell at her. Ayala said she turned and spoke to Rojas, told her to calm down and speak with a manager if she had a problem.
Ayala said Rojas used and open hand, unknown which hand, and slapped the left side of her face. Ayala said it appeared Rojas was going to slap her again, so she grabbed onto both of Rojas's arms and held on to them to prevent Rojas from hitting her again. Ayala said other employees separated her and Rojas and nothing further happened.
While speaking with Ayala I observed she had small red marks which appeared to be scratches on the inside of her right forearm. Ayala said when she grabbed
Rojas's arms, Rojas also grabbed onto her arms and must have scratched her.
I asked Ayala if she wanted to press charges against Rojas, but she said she did not and just wanted the incident documented.
I contacted Rojas with another Las Margaritas employee to translate because
Rojas did not speak English.
Through the employee, Rojas told me she was arguing with Ayala because Ayala raised her voice at her and tossed her tip to her. Rojas said while they were arguing, Ayala grabbed her arm, so she slapped Ayala in the face. Rojas said nothing else had happened after that.
While speaking with Rojas I observed she had small red marks on the inside of her right forearm, which she stated were from Ayala grabbing her.
I spoke with other employees who stated Rojas and Ayala do not get along and there has been an ongoing problem of them arguing for a long time. The employees said tonight they saw Ayala and Rojas grabbing each others arms, but did not see what had happened prior to that.
Because employees said they saw Rojas and Ayala grabbing each others arms and did not see Rojas slap Ayala, it was more than likely Rojas slapped Ayala prior to Ayala grabbing Rojas's arms.
Because Ayala did not want to press chargers against Rojas, this case is
cleared
exceptional.