A 75-year-old Indiana woman is dead after a shocking fight inside a Tim Hortons exploded from a complaint over a drive-thru order into a violent struggle with a young shift manager.
Anita Grayson walked into the Fort Wayne coffee shop just after 8 a.m. on May 13 after becoming upset about her order, according to the Fort Wayne Police Department.
What started as a customer complaint quickly turned chaotic.
Police said Grayson began yelling at a 17-year-old employee behind the counter before a 20-year-old shift manager stepped in and told her to leave.
Surveillance video released by police reportedly showed Grayson pointing and shouting as the manager tried to intervene.
The situation then took a violent turn.
According to investigators, Grayson moved toward the teenage worker, and the manager touched her while trying to stop her from getting closer. Police said Grayson then pushed the manager and punched her on the left side of the face.
The blow allegedly left scratches on the manager and knocked her glasses off.
As the confrontation escalated, the two women ended up in a physical struggle.
Police said Grayson shoved her hand in the manager’s face before the fight spilled onto the floor.
“Ms. Grayson then grabbed the shift lead by the hair and pulled her to the ground and rolled on top of her,” police said.
The department said the manager could be seen trying to hit Grayson’s arm while her hair was being held.
Two other Tim Hortons employees rushed over to break up the brawl, but police said they had trouble freeing the manager’s hair from Grayson’s grip.
During the struggle, Grayson allegedly pulled out a chunk of the manager’s hair, leaving a raw area on the top of her head.
After the fight ended, employees went back behind the counter, while Grayson sat down at a table and made a phone call, according to police.
Then, about 10 minutes later, the elderly woman lay down on the floor.
When Fort Wayne police arrived after a 911 call about an altercation and reported battery, they found Grayson unresponsive.
Paramedics attempted lifesaving measures at the scene before she was taken to a hospital, where she later died.
Her cause of death has not yet been released.
Grayson’s daughter, Tawnda Grayson, said her mother had congestive heart failure and had been wearing a heart monitor just a week before the fight.
Now, she is demanding answers.
“You should not enter a coffee shop for a coffee and a doughnut and come out unalived. That is diabolical,” she told WPTA.
She also said she believes her mother should have been handled more carefully because of her age.
“That’s the elderly lady. That’s not how we treat our senior citizens,” she said. “We be careful with them. We make sure that they’re all right. We don’t jump on them and attack them. And scare them to death.”
Police said they had not originally planned to release the surveillance footage, but did so after what they called a “dangerously false narrative” began spreading online.
According to the department, a partial clip circulating on social media showed only part of the fight and ended with Grayson on the floor, leaving out what police said happened before and after the altercation.
The Allen County Coroner’s Office has not yet ruled on Grayson’s cause or manner of death.
However, preliminary findings reportedly showed “no significant contributory injuries,” according to WPTA.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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