WATCH | Woman Leaves after Eating Tacos, Thrashes Owner When Asked to Pay

A woman from Bakersfield in Los Angeles was arrested earlier this week after her video of beating up a female street food vendor went viral. 36-year-old Renee Hines was booked into the Los Angeles County jail after she attacked taco vendor Joanna Vasquez in front of her stall in Watts.

The video showed Hines beating up Vasquez outside her food stall. According to a report by the New York Post, Hines first did not pay for her taco and after taking her takeaway went straight to her car.

She got enraged after the taco vendor started filming her. She rushed out of her car and then started beating up Vasquez and also pepper-sprayed her.

Later, the Los Angeles Police Department announced in a press release that Hines was booked into the Los Angeles County jail on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon.

Hines also trashed the Tacos Ortiz stand after she “punched and pepper sprayed” the vendor. She also lost her job as a temporary contractor after her employer came to know of the viral video.

“We were alerted to an online video of a temporary worker whom her employer had assigned to work at one of our warehouses. This person is no longer assigned to work at our company and will not be allowed to return to any of our facilities,” her employer, Yusen Logistics America, said.

“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,” Vasquez was quoted as saying by news agency KTLA.

The incident came to light when operators of Tacos Ortiz filed a police report and posted the video of the attack on Instagram, urging netizens and the public to come forward and identify the woman.

In the video, Hines can be seen attacking Vasquez’s co-worker as well when she noticed him recording her licence plate number. “They need to put her in jail and fine her and she needs to pay for all the damage because it is not right what she did. I just want her to pay for what she did,” Vasquez was quoted as saying by KTLA.

It was also revealed that Hines was a repeat offender as she ate at Tacos Ortiz at least twice before and left without paying.

Hines, if convicted of her crimes, could be sentenced to up to four years in state prison and remains jailed on a $30,000 bail.