Woman punches and pepper-sprays taco stand employee asking her to pay, CA cops say

A woman punched and pepper-sprayed an employee at a taco stand in California after she was asked to pay for her food, police said.

At 6:35 p.m. on Aug. 6, police were dispatched to a taco stand in Los Angeles and learned about the assault on the female employee, according to a news release by the department.

“When she finished spraying me, she started throwing everything and then she grabbed me and started to hit me,” the worker told KTLA. “She pulled my hair and then punched me in my shoulders. She punched me in the face. She unloaded on me and then let me go.”

A witness then started recording the woman, identified as 36-year-old Renee Latrice Hines, the release said.

Hines got mad, grabbed the stand’s sign and threw it at the person recording, police said. Then she fled in a purple Lexus, according to the release.

She was arrested and booked on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon on Aug. 9, according to the release. Her bail is set at $30,000.

Los Angeles fire personnel treated the victim at the scene, the release said.

“They’re hard-working people,” Steve Alonzo, a local resident, told KTLA of the taco stand. “That’s the message we want to get out to the masses. They’re hard-working people. Leave them alone.”

This story was originally published August 10, 2023 at 11:39 AM with the headline "Woman punches and pepper-sprays taco stand employee asking her to pay, CA cops say."