A Tim Hortons employee involved in a conflict that started in the drive-thru and spilled into the restaurant will not be criminally charged in the death of a customer. The announcement last week by officials in Indiana came after a months-long investigation into the incident at a restaurant in Fort Wayne. Anita Grayson, 75, died in May following an altercation that began when she entered the restaurant on Ice Way to address an issue with her drive-thru order, police said at the time. “This is a heartbreaking situation for everyone involved and especially for Ms. Grayson’s family,” the Allen County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said in an update on the case Friday. “We recognize this case has drawn significant public attention, and we understand that the community deserves to know not only our decision, but how we reached our determination.” As such, the office released a report outlining the evidence examined in the case. The report notes that surveillance video captured inside the restaurant, which does not contain audio, was a primary source. They also reviewed 911 calls, dispatch records, witness accounts, body-camera video, crime scene documentation and photos, an autopsy, toxicology report, and medical records. Dispute started with a sandwich Much of the incident was captured by a camera in the restaurant, and was outlined by police in a May news release in an account prefaced by the phrase, “These are the facts.” Officers said Grayson began “berating a 17-year-old” employee, prompting a shift lead to step between them. There is no audio, but the employees told investigators Grayson slammed her food on the counter and made an expletive-laced demand for a refund, accusing staff of making her sandwich “wrong on purpose,” according to the report released last week. The 20-year-old lead and the teenage employee repeatedly asked Grayson to leave, according to witness reports. As the altercation escalated, Grayson could be seen shoving the shift lead, then striking her in the face, officers said in an account backed by surveillance video released at the time. The employee described this to investigators as being punched in the face. During a 911 call made around this time, a woman can be heard saying in the background, “Why did she punch me?” The lead swung her arms at Grayson, and Grayson grabbed her face, leaving scratches, police said. “Ms. Grayson then grabbed the shift lead by the hair and pulled her to the ground and rolled on top of her,” police said, describing swatting motions the lead made while being held by the hair. Another employee told investigators that Grayson was “throwing haymakers the whole time” she was on top of the shift lead. The employee hit Grayson several times while trying to free herself during this period, the staff member said. At that point, two other employees intervened, and as they were pulled apart, a “chunk of hair” was pulled from the shift lead’s head, “leaving a raw area.” Once separated, the employees got behind the counter and Grayson sat down, taking a phone call. She was seen picking up the shift lead’s hair and putting it in her bag, police said. 911 audio reviewed Multiple calls to 911 were made during this time, including one from Grayson herself, who stated that her order was wrong, so she’d asked for the manager. “The manager got in my face and I had to hit her to get her out of my face. … I’m breathing heavy because I’m about to have a heart attack. I’m 75 years old and this young manager jumped on me and beat me down to the floor. All I wanted was my money back.” The investigation says some of her statements are backed up by the video, but the description of being jumped on and beaten “is not borne out by the video, which shows her delivering the first shove.” Less than 20 minutes after Grayson entered the restaurant, she was seen lying down on the floor. One employee described her as appearing to hyperventilate and then vomit, and that she lowered herself to the floor rather than falling. The shift lead went to check on her and bring her water, police said. Another employee checked on her, at which point she was responsive. The employee said the woman was responsive until paramedics arrived, but the investigation report describes her as “hyperventilating and foaming from her mouth” when they reached the scene. Paramedics performed CPR and transported her to hospital in critical condition, but she was pronounced dead. Medical records obtained by investigators after her death showed she had recently been treated for congestive heart failure, hypertension, shortness of breath, and other complaints related to cardiovascular issues. Her cause of death was determined to be “acute exacerbation of congestive heart failure in the setting of a physical altercation,” the report says. Her manner of death was classified as “undetermined,” but the coroner also found that the injuries Grayson had as a result of the altercation did not contribute to her death. A key question in the case, according to Allen County Prosecutor’s Office Chief Counsel Tesa Helge, was whether the 20-year-old employee who struck Grayson was trying to hurt her. “In reviewing the witness statements and reviewing the video, we believe she’s not. We believe she’s doing that to try to de-escalate the conflict that’s occurring and to protect the other employee who’s standing behind her,” Helge said at a news conference. “In this particular case, and we know that from the coroner’s report, from the autopsy findings, that the death was not caused by what occurred there in Tim Hortons that day. So there is really no way to prove a murder on that because we don’t have causation. ... We don’t have an action that knowingly or intentionally caused a death, so murder really isn’t applicable in this situation.” In the report, investigators said that because Grayson escalated to violence “and did so disproportionately to the minimal contact that proceeded it,” the use of force used by the Tim Hortons employee was justified. Police said previously that the video and details were released due to “significant public concern and misinformation” circulating online after partial clips were shared on social media.
