The case of the tomato-less taco

Woman says she was threatened by
Taco Bell clerk after her order was wrong

It was a strange sequence of events at a La Crosse Taco Bell the day after Christmas.

A La Crosse woman who claimed she was threatened by a Taco Bell counter clerk, after messing up her order, ended up getting a citation, herself.

Leanna Calloway had apparently gone through the drive-thru and ordered a taco with no tomatoes. Unfortunately for all, she got tomatoes.

So, Calloway did what anyone would do. Or not. She went back into the fast food joint and began yelling at the staff for, again – according to the police report this has happened multiple times – messing up her order.

According to the report, Calloway said the clerk slammed the taco onto the counter and told her he was going to “take her out.” Calloway informed him that she was going to get her boyfriend, in which the clerk said, “I’m going to take him out back.”

That’s when the manager got involved and told Calloway if the clerk did say that, he would be fired immediately. She was also refunded her money.

Some way, somehow police got involved and Calloway told her story to an officer over the phone.

When she mentioned the part where she was going to get her boyfriend, the officer told Calloway that was probably not a good idea, as it would only escalate the situation.

That set Calloway off, and she began to berate the officer over the phone for telling her what to do – much like she berated the clerk for unwanted tomatoes – before hanging up on him.

With that, the officer decided to see what the fuss was all about and set off for the ‘border.’

Upon talking to the clerk and the manager at Taco Bell, it turns out Calloway’s story was a bit embellished. Maybe all of it, as neither clerk nor manager recall her asking for a tomato-less taco, let alone slamming her tomato-filled taco on the counter before threatening her and her boyfriend, if he appeared.

The officer then set off for Calloway’s home, but she was not there. Calling back to the station to see if there were any other known addresses for her, dispatch told him it wasn’t necessary to look. Calloway was on the other line, yelling at them for how the officer had treated her.

The police eventually caught up with Calloway and talked about the situation. Calloway added a new wrinkle to the story where another customer had said someone should call police. Calloway answered that comment with a “mind your own business.”

The officer informed Calloway that if customers are so worried they need to call police because someone is yelling at the top of their lungs inside a fast-food place, then maybe it’s time to rethink the situation.

Calloway was issued a disorderly for her actions. When she asked if the Taco Bell clerk would be getting a ticket for threatening her, the officer carefully told her they were still looking into the details.

The clerk did not get a citation, as there were witnesses backing the story that he didn’t slam the taco on the counter or threaten Calloway. The clerk – and manager, who listens to all drive-thru orders on a headset – also did not recall Calloway asking for a taco without tomatoes.