Attack on teen Chili’s worker over seating rules ends with arrests, Louisiana cops say
Three women were arrested Thursday in connection to an assault on a Chili’s restaurant worker who was trying to enforce coronavirus seating restrictions.
Baton Rouge police booked Tammy Dabney, 48, on a charge of aggravated second-degree battery, while Erica Dabney, 46, and Rodneka Dabney, 27, face charges of simply battery and disturbing the peace, The Advocate reported.
The women are alleged to have been with a party of more than 11 who wished to be seated together at the Chili’s on Aug. 9, McClatchy News previously reported. The group grew angry when hostess Kelsy Wallace, 17, told them she could only seat six people to a table, per the restaurant’s social distancing rules.
A fight ensued when Wallace called her manager over to handle the situation.
“All I knew was to push her back. I reacted,” the teen told WBRZ. “That’s when her and her daughters, they all came. They’re like, 20, 30, and the woman that pushed me looked like she was 40. They’re on me, beating me. I’m standing there trying to hit them, trying to get all of them off me.”
Wallace said one of the women struck her with a wet floor sign, leaving her with a deep cut above her eye. She suffered other minor injuries in the attack and had to be treated at a local hospital, according to police.
One the teen’s alleged attackers has since been released on bond, online jail records show.
Police told WBRZ that anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers helped detectives identify and arrest the three suspects.
Authorities said their investigation of the incident remains ongoing, KATC reported.
