75-year-old woman dies after fight with employee at Tim Hortons, police say

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA/Gray News) — A 75-year-old woman died after a fight with an employee at a Tim Hortons restaurant in Indiana last week.

The Fort Wayne Police Department identified the woman as Anita Ann Grayson.

Police released surveillance video of the fight that took place shortly before her death in the restaurant.

Video shows Grayson entering the coffee chain just after 8 a.m. to address an issue with her drive-thru order. Grayson then began “berating a 17-year-old female employee,” police said.

A 20-year-old shift lead then stepped between Grayson and the teen and told Grayson to leave, police said.

The 75-year-old then appeared to move around the shift lead toward the teen employee, with the shift lead putting her hands on Grayson in response.

Grayson then shoved the shift lead backwards and struck her in the face. The shift lead then went toward Grayson, swinging her arms.

Grayson responded by grabbing the shift lead by the hair and pulling her to the ground while the shift lead swatted at Grayson’s arm.

During the fight, Grayson pulled a chunk of hair from the shift lead’s head, “leaving a raw area on the top of her head,” police said.

Two other Tim Hortons employees then stepped in to separate Grayson and the shift lead. Once they were separated, the employees went behind the counter. Grayson sat down at a table and began talking on the phone, at one point grabbing the shift lead’s ripped hair from the floor and placing it into her bag.

About 10 minutes later, Grayson lay on the floor and the shift lead went to check on her, bringing her a cup of water. A second employee also came to check on Grayson.

When police arrived, they found Grayson unresponsive.

Medics began life-saving measures and transported Grayson to the hospital. She was pronounced dead.

The Allen County Coroner’s Office has not ruled a cause and manner of death as of Tuesday, but preliminary findings show there were “no significant contributory injuries.”

Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker released a statement Tuesday, saying in part:

“It’s important for each of us to not draw conclusions until all of the facts have been released. I’m hopeful that the video and narrative that will be released by the Fort Wayne Police Department later today will help alleviate the uneasiness that many individuals have felt over the past few days.”

Grayson’s daughter, Tawnda Grayson, said she does not accept the police account and believes her mother should still be alive.

“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 alright. We don’t jump on them and attack them. And scare them to death.”

Tawnda Grayson said her mother had congestive heart failure. She said her mother had just gotten a new heart doctor and was wearing a heart monitor a week before the fight.

“My mother was wronged in the worst way,” Tawnda Grayson said. “I lost the matriarch of my family.”

She added, “You should not enter a coffee shop for a coffee and a doughnut and come out unalived. That is diabolical.”

The Allen County Prosecutor’s Office said it will not be making a decision in the case until they have “received and reviewed all evidence related to the investigation.”