Anita Grayson, Fort Wayne, Indiana woman with heart condition dies after fight with Tim Horton employees over botched order amid family demands to press charges against lead shift worker, August Horner as preliminary coroners report says physical fight didn’t lead to contributory injuries and death.
An elderly female customer who became involved in a physical fight with employees at a Tim Hortons in Fort Wayne, Indiana last week died after confronting workers over her ‘botched’ order.
Anita Ann Grayson, 75, according to shared video on social media became embroiled in an alleged confrontation at the drive thru on 8:09 a.m., May 13 according to WISH-TV.
The Fort Wayne Police Department stated officers being dispatched to the Tim Hortons, a coffee shop, at 3975 Ice Way, after receiving a report of an ‘altercation involving a reported battery.’
Botched drive thru order leads to physical confrontation
Anita Grayson, who has a chronic heart condition was found unresponsive when officers arrived. Medics immediately started lifesaving measures, though Grayson later died after arriving at a hospital.
According to police, Grayson walked into the Tim Horton’s to explain an issue she had with her drive-thru order.
At some point, Grayson began ‘berating’ a 17-year-old employee, prompting a 20-year-old shift lead to intervene.
The shift lead repeatedly asked Grayson to leave, even placing her hands on the elderly customer to prevent her from getting close to the teen employee.
Social media has since identified the shift leader as August Horner, 20.
At some point a fight then broke out.
Fort Wayne elderly customer becomes unresponsive following physical confrontation
‘Grayson forcefully shoved the shift lead backward, then struck the shift lead on the left side of the nose with her right hand,’ police said. ‘At that point, the shift lead reacted and moved toward Grayson while swinging her arms in an attempt to strike her.’
As the fight continued, Grayson reportedly left scratches on the shift lead’s face, knocked off her glasses, then grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to the ground.
Two other employees moved in to pull Grayson off the shift lead, but struggled to get Grayson’s hand out of the shift lead’s hair. Grayson did pull a chunk of the shift lead’s hair at some point, ‘leaving a raw area on the top of her head,’ according to Fort Wayne police.
After separating the women, the employees returned behind the counter, and Grayson sat at a table and started talking on her phone. Police said Grayson was caught on camera picking up the shift lead’s hair and putting it in her bag.
At 8:22 a.m., Grayson moved to lie on the floor, prompting two employees – including the shift lead – to check on her. When a police officer arrived, Grayson was already unresponsive.
Fort Wayne PD says Grayson’s cause of death has not been determined.
Family demands justice for elderly mother
The incident has prompted demands for justice and calls for charges to be filed against the fast food worker.
‘My mother was wronged in the worst way,’ her daughter, Tawnda ‘Tonda’ Grayson told 21AliveNews. ‘I lost the matriarch of my family.’
‘You should not enter a coffee shop for a coffee and a doughnut and come out unalived,’ the daughter added. ‘That is diabolical.’
The Allen County Coroner’s Office has not ruled on Grayson’s cause and manner of death yet, but says preliminary findings show there were ‘no significant contributory injuries.’
The office stated that injuries sustained in a physical confrontation did not significantly contribute to the 75-year-old woman’s death the Journal Gazette reported.
Tawnda Grayson said her mother had congestive heart failure. She said she had just got a new heart doctor and was wearing a heart monitor a week before the altercation.
FWPD said in their release that they understand the public concern but urged people to ‘allow the review process to proceed based on the full body of evidence, not incomplete video clips or inaccurate narratives.’
A GoFundme has since been organized for Anita Grayson by her daughter, with just under $2100 raised Tuesday night.
