Taco Assault Leads to Irate Customer’s Arrest

WARWICK, RI — Officer Tyler Mobrice arrested a 27-year-old Pawtucket woman Feb. 21 at 1:21 p.m. on an assault charge after employees of the 2574 West Shore Road Taco Bell reported she had swung a bag of tacos at the manager, striking her in the face.

Mobrice  was headed to the restaurant with lights and siren on when he spotted the assailant’s 2007 Ford Edge, which had pulled over to make room for his cruiser to pass, according to the officer’s report. He pulled a U-turn and parked behind the Ford, got out and identified the driver as Justina Strickland, 27, of 206 Pleasant St., Apt. 5, Pawtucket.

Strickland admitted she had just left the Taco Bell, and told Mobrice, “I’m having a bad day,” and that the Taco Bell staff, “Can’t do s*** right.” She said she often has complaints about the staff at the restaurant because they often get her food wrong. She said that when they did so today, she asked them to make the food again, but that it was not done correctly the second time, according to Mobrice’s report.

Strickland told Mobrice she became livid, swore and yelled at the staff, and they responded by mocking her, and she swung the bag of tacos at one employees’ face. She said she did not hit her, and left the restaurant.

The employee, the store manager, told police Strickland had in fact connected with her bag of tacos, hitting her in the face. She told Mobrice she wanted to press charges and also have Strickland banned from the property. A second employee confirmed the manager’s story, and police also obtained a copy of video footage of the incident from the restaurant’s cameras.

Mobrice charged Strickland with one count of simple assault or batter and one count of disorderly conduct. She appeared on the charges in Third District Court on March 5, where the disorderly conduct charge was dismissed, and she pled no contest to the assault.  She was ordered not to trespass on the property, and issued a no-contact order for the staff at Taco Bell.