As it turns out, Ayala has a litigious history. She has filed claims against several corporations, including a former employer and General Motors, though it is unclear from court records whether she received any money. She said she got $30,000 from El Pollo Loco after her 13-year-old daughter got sick at one of the chain’s Las Vegas-area restaurants. El Pollo Loco officials say she did not get a dime.
The San Jose Police fraud unit joined Las Vegas police in the search of her home there, and officers have questioned her relatives. A family friend, Ken Bono, 24, said the warrant indicated police were looking for a cooler, a blue bag and “any family documents about anybody dead.”
Ayala’s sister Mary, who lives in San Jose but missed the fateful meal at Wendy’s, has been outspoken in defense of her sister.
The police “wanted to know if I ever asked her, even jokingly, ‘Hey, did you do it?”’ Mary Ayala said. “I said, ‘No, my sister wouldn’t do that.”’ She added: “It’s just a mess right now. Things are out of hand.”
If police do obtain evidence that Ayala planted the finger, she could face charges of fraud, extortion or making false statements, legal experts said.
Back at the Wendy’s where the chili was served, customers seem convinced the tale of the finger was a scam.
“There’s too much in this country today with people trying to get things by conning them out of it. Wendy’s has been good for years,” said longtime customer 81-year-old Ralph Woodman. “How the hell would you get a finger into the pot without seeing it in there when you’re stirring it? It had to be some sort of screwball ruse.”
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