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Restaurant hostess reportedly attacked for following COVID-19 protocols

3 years 7 months 2 weeks ago Tuesday, August 11 2020 Aug 11, 2020 August 11, 2020 9:14 PM August 11, 2020 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - A teenager is still recovering physically and mentally after she was attacked while working at a restaurant in Baton Rouge over the weekend.

It happened at the Chili’s on Constitution Avenue when the hostess refused to seat a large party at a single table, which is against the companies current COVID-19 policies.

Kelsy Wallace, 17, says she was working on Sunday when a large group of about 13 people came in to eat.

"My general manager tells us we're not supposed to sit a table over 6 because of the coronavirus,” Wallace said.

She says she sat six of them down at one table, but she could not seat the rest of the party at another table because there were still more than six people.

Wallace says the group became increasingly upset, so she attempted to get her manager a second time. That is when Baton Rouge Police say she was attacked.

"She pushed me. And when she pushed me, all I knew was to push her back. I reacted. That's when her and her daughters, they all came. And they're grown women. I'm 17-years-old. They're like, 20, 30, and the woman that pushed me looked like she was 40. So I'm standing there, they're on me, beating me. I'm standing there trying to hit them, trying to get all of them off me. And the lady she takes a wet floor sign and slams it in my eye. And I had blood rushing everywhere,” Wallace said.

With her face covered in blood, Wallace was eventually taken to the back of the restaurant. Police arrived after the alleged attackers left in separate vehicles.

Wallace says following the attack, she had to go to the emergency room where five stitches were placed just above her eye near her brow.

"As I'm laying on the bed, this keeps replaying in my head. I couldn't believe that. I couldn't believe I'm trying to work and this happened to me,” Wallace said.

Along with the shock and embarrassment she has felt coupled with the pain in her eye, Wallace says she also has a large bald spot in the back of her head from one of the attackers ripping her hair out.

Wallace is also still wondering why no one at the restaurant stepped in during or after the brawl broke out.

"The managers let them walk out. Like, how y'all let them leave like that? I mean, they could have locked the doors until the police came,” Wallace said.

Surveillance footage of the attack was obtained by police and a report was filed by Wallace, who says she just wants those responsible to be held accountable for their actions.

"I want them in jail. I don't think they should get away with this,” Wallace said, adding that she is still employed by the restaurant but does not plan on returning.

Management at the Chili's on Constitution Avenue referred all comments to its corporate office who did not get back with WBRZ by Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, Aug. 12, a GoFundMe was started for Wallace by her family as they say she is afraid to return to work.

"She is afraid to return to work to continue help defray the cost of her senior activities and college expenses."

Baton Rouge Police say several women have since been apprehended in connection with the attack, but the incident remains under investigation.

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