NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Three women from Texas who have been charged following a fight with a Carmine's hostess are facing up to a year in jail.
Kaeita Nkeenge Rankin, 44, Sally Rechelle Lewis, 49 and Tyonnie Keshay Rankin, 21, were all charged in Manhattan Criminal Court with two counts of third-degree assault, attempted assault and harassment in connection to the fight on Sept. 16, according to the New York Post.
The fight at the Manhattan eatery on at Broadway and West 91st Street has involved multiple narratives about what exactly happened.
Police originally said the hostess was attacked by the women after she asked them for proof of vaccination.
But according to a spokesperson, the women were already seated after showing their vaccine proof, but another part of their party was not allowed in due to their lack of vaccination info. They said the women argued with staff to allow them in.
A lawyer for one of the women from Texas claimed that she was called a racial slur, and that the hostess was rude to her party, including insisting that their vaccine cards were fake.
Restaurant President Jeff Bank denied any use of a slur or that the hostess first attacked someone during the incident, saying, "Three women brutally attacked our hosts without provocation, got arrested and charged for their misconduct, and then, over the last several days, had their lawyer falsely and grossly misrepresent their acts of wanton violence in a cynical attempt to try to excuse the inexcusable."
Bank also released surveillance footage of the incident in the days following. It shows one woman walk out of the restaurant and get up close with the hostess before the scuffle breaks out.
"My team members work too hard to serve our guests, work too hard to comply with New York's vaccination requirements, and still suffer too much from the attack for me to allow these false statements to stand," said Bank in a statement.
According to a criminal complaint, the hostess said she "observed one defendant grab her about the necklace, which was around her neck, and pull on the necklace, causing it to break, and causing a laceration on her neck."
The allegations of racism led to protests outside the restaurant, where people suggested that the alleged use of a slur was being covered up.
As of mid-September, New York City requires all people 12 years and older who are eating indoors at restaurants to show proof of vaccination.
