A security guard at a Taco Bell in downtown Los Angeles was caught on camera slapping a woman inside the fast-food restaurant on Sunday, February 9.
Alejandro Sanchez, 29, a horse trainer from Monrovia, California, witnessed and filmed the shocking incident at the 801 W 7th St. establishment.
He hopes the security guard faces consequences, he says.
“I was at the Taco Bell ordering some food, and there was this lady trying to get some food as well,” Sanchez said.
“The security guard was telling her to leave, and she didn’t want to because she was ordering food. Then he just went off, and she started going crazy.
“And then the security guard swung at her really hard. He slapped the s*** out of her. It just was crazy. Everybody was shocked.”
Sanchez, a regular, says the woman didn’t appear to be causing any trouble.
“She was just regular, just ordering some food. I don’t know what led to it, to be honest. She wasn’t doing anything. She was just right there ordering some food.
“It just happened so quickly.”
Despite the presence of other customers, Sanchez says Taco Bell employees were more concerned about him recording the incident than addressing the security guard’s actions, he claims.
“They were trying to tell me to put my phone away and leave,” he recalled.
“I was like, ‘For what? No, I’m not going to leave. I’m waiting for my food.’ But they weren’t having it.
“When they gave me my food, they were like, ‘You shouldn’t be recording. It’s none of your business.’ I was like, ‘What do you mean this is none of my business? Look what happened.’”
Sanchez questioned whether the woman was targeted because of her ‘dishevelled’ appearance.
“There’s Skid Row a couple of blocks away from there, and they just have a lot of traffic,” he said.
He says after the slap, the woman was forced out of the restaurant.
“When they escorted her out, she was screaming and kids were screaming. So they just closed the door, and then she just went on with her day.”
Taco Bell has been approached for comment.
