Raging at Hispanics, drunken woman screams and spits

Published 1:30 am Friday, May 11, 2018

EDMONDS — An Edmonds woman was arrested for investigation of a hate crime when she ordered a Hispanic family to “get out of our country” and spat into a car that she thought belonged to them.

A witness called police when she saw a woman walk up to a parked car and spit onto the driver’s seat around 12:45 p.m. May 4, at the McDonald’s in the 21400 block of Highway 99, according to a police report filed in court this week.

The woman, who is white, entered the fast food restaurant to yell at a group of Spanish-speaking people. She returned to the car, opened the door and spat again, according to the witness account. The woman went back into the restaurant to yell more.

“Get out of our country!” she reportedly shouted. “If you don’t speak English you shouldn’t be here!”

Later, a 14-year-old student translated for the group. The woman seemed so agitated, the family feared she would grab a gun to shoot them, according to the police reports.

They watched her spit into a car that looked like theirs, but it actually belonged to an elderly couple in the restaurant.

“It was clear to all witnesses present that (the woman) spit on the vehicle seat because the family was Hispanic and spoke Spanish,” Edmonds police Sgt. Alan Hardwick wrote in the report.

The woman, 59, left in a pickup truck with a man. A witness gave 911 dispatchers the license plate, and an Edmonds police officer pulled over the truck in downtown Edmonds. She freely admitted she “hates Mexicans and Hispanics, and hates when they come to the country and benefit from social programs,” court papers say.

She admitted to police she spat into the car, thinking it belonged to the Hispanic people. Police arrested her for investigation of malicious harassment, the state’s felony hate crime law.

A police report noted she was falling over from apparent drunkenness. A breathalyzer test gauged her blood-alcohol at 0.333 percent, more than four times the legal limit to drive.

Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.