The footage of two women brutally attacking a server at Taco Azteca, a longtime Mexican restaurant in Pilsen, last weekend has left a neighborhood reeling, according to residents and local leaders. The now viral video has raised concerns of safety in the neighborhood and left other workers in the area fearful.
As police continue the search for the two aggressors, the images of the beating over a $50 check still haunt some of the other workers at the restaurant, said co-owner Martha Garcia.
In the 10 years they’ve have been in business, they had never experienced an attack on their workers from customers. Let alone a physical one, Garcia added. It has left the 23-year-old server who was attacked traumatized and unable to work with a broken finger.
“This is beyond just the safety of our workers, it is about the safety of our customers and our neighbors,” said Garcia, who owns the restaurant along with her husband Carlos Garcia.
According to police and Garcia, two women entered the restaurant about 9 p.m. last Saturday and began arguing with the server, demanding their money back for a food order they did not like. The server refused to refund the moneybecause they had nearly finished the dish.
When she refused, the women began to vandalize the restaurant, ripping decorations from the ceiling and going behind the bar, throwing items around. The server asked them to stop and when she confronted them, the two women threw her to the ground and started to hit her.
Another worker tried to intervene and Garcia, who was around the corner, also helped to push the women away from the server. Despite calling police multiple times before the physical altercation, Garcia said, authorities didn’t show up until after the attack. The server was taken to an area hospital where she was treated for minor injuries.
Garcia and her husband shared the video on their social media and other community pages hoping to raise awareness and to alert other businesses. They hope the neighbors can help identify the two women. The footage has been shared thousands of times.
One of the restaurant’s patrons has also offered to print photos of the two women, screenshots from the video, to warn other business owners around the Pilsen area, Garcia said.
While Chicago police said they’re investigating, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, said that he is working with Garcia and her husband to get footage from other businesses and homes near the restaurant to try to identify the vehicle in which the women drove off. According to Sigcho-Lopez, the attack has caused commotion among his constituents.
“There has to be accountability. We cannot normalize this level of violence anywhere,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “Our community is not the only community that deals with this kind of violence.”
Many of his constituents, he said, have reported concerns and worry over the recent attack and others reported are crimes.
“I hope this investigation gives light not only to who perpetrated this violence but how it came about and what we must do to prevent it,” he said.
Employees from nearby businesses say they are shaken.
“This type of violence, regardless of the issue, is unacceptable,” said Rebeca Lopez, a server at another restaurant in Pilsen. “It worries me because it seems to be normalized now.”
Since the attack, Lopez and her co-workers are constantly on alert, she said.
“For many of us, this job is hard and we do it because we need to feed our families. My heart goes out to the waitress that was attacked,” Lopez added
The server has been working at Taco Azteca for a little less than a year, Garcia said. The couple is taking care of all her medical expenses.
For now, she’s at home, taking care of herself and following-up with doctor appointments and receiving emotional support. Despite it all, she hopes to return to work in the next week or so, Garcia said.
“She’s a hard-working woman who was just doing her job. She needs this job and the money,” Garcia said.
Some of the server’s co-workers and friends started a GoFundMe to provide additional support she may need.
Sigcho-Lopez said he is committed to working with the business owners and other residents to find ways to prevent similar incidents from happening again and encouraged those with any information to call his office.
For Garcia, her workers and neighbors, justice and peace will come when the two women are identified and charged.
“We want everyone who walks through our doors to feel safe, respected and valued,” she said.
