A racial tirade directed at Taco Bell employees ended with one woman arrested for DUI and another for battery Thursday evening.
Officers from the Covington Police Department were called to the fast-food restaurant by an off-duty Alabama police officer who had witnessed the altercation between a customer, 27-year-old Rebekah Lynn Reynolds and Alexis Moniece Geathers, 27, the manager of Taco Bell. The off-duty officer said that he watched the manager go to Reynolds' car and punch her in the face more than once.
On the way to speak with Reynolds, an employee of Taco Bell stopped the officer and told him what happened to start the whole altercation in motion.
She reportedly told officers that Reynolds had come through the drive-thru and was verbally abusive, using foul language and racial slurs toward the staff. At one point, Reynolds allegedly said "you better get my food n****r."
A witness to the incident told officers that she was parked behind Reynolds' vehicle when she saw the manager of Taco Bell come out and begin speaking with her. She said the two argued and she heard the manager say "you are not going to disrespect me," before striking Reynolds three times in the face.
When officers went to speak with Reynolds she was still sitting in her car. At their instruction she parked it, stepped out and one officer noted he "detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her person."
When he asked her what happened she reportedly said she "didn't want any problems and just wanted to go home." She was asked why she was using such abusive language and why the manager struck her and she told officers "I'm not sure." She admitted to having "about four beers" and told the officer that she lived just up the road.
"Reynolds continued to plead with me to allow someone to come down and pick her up and let her go home. I informed Reynolds that I couldn't do that," reads the incident report.
When the officer attempted to get Reynolds to perform field sobriety tests she "continually mimicked me," according to the officer's report. She also failed to complete the tests properly, allegedly staggering and not listening to instructions. An officer told Reynolds that she was under arrest and asked her if there was anything illegal in her vehicle. She told him there was not but then, according to reports, added "that all that was in her car was an open container and there was nothing wrong with it because she had been drinking it while in the drive-thru at Taco Bell and not while physically driving." When given a breath test, Reynolds reportedly blew a .287. The legal limit in Georgia is a .08.
After arresting Reynolds for DUI, disorderly conduct and open container, officers spoke with the manager, Alexis Geathers.
Geathers told them that when Reynolds first pulled into the drive-thru she was extremely aggravated and began cussing at the teller in charge of the drive-thru window. She said that she stepped up to the window and told Reynolds to stop swearing, which is when she began using racial slurs at the staff and at her.
After a couple minutes, Geathers told officers that she just "couldn't stand it anymore" and she went to the vehicle to confront Reynolds, which is when she "lost it," and punched Reynolds three times in the face.
Geathers was also placed under arrested and transported to the Newton County Detention Center with Reynolds. She was charged with battery.