The incident, which occured August 4, took place near 2332 Fox Hills Drive, where Miguel Sanchez was contracted to do some work on a condo unit in the building. As Sanchez was the site manager and was in possession of the owner's keys and garage remote, he was tasked with also allowing his co-workers access to the property.
Sanchez told website Latino Rebels that the verbal altercation had already begun when he headed downstairs to let his co-worker, identified only as Jesse, into the building. He found the two already engaged in a heated discussion. "She [the resident] wasn't allowing [Jesse] to come inside because she did not believe that we had the authority to be there," Sánchez said.
Sanchez said he decided to record the incident after resident Rhonda Michelle Polon called both workers "Mexican wetbacks."
Video footage shows the pair talking with the resident, explaining that they're on the grounds to do work as she continues to question their presence. At one point in the recording, Jesse is seen calling the owner of the condo they were contracted to work on.
"There's a lady being super racist and crazy right now," Sanchez says in the recording as he tries to set up the scene for his viewers. "A guy hired us to come over here and work… we work in construction."
But just as Sanchez explains that he has the keys for both the garage and the condo unit, an infuriated Polon tosses her cup of hot coffee at him.
"Get out of my f**king face," Polon yells out as she flings the coffee on Sanchez. "I told you eight times to get out of my face."
In a separate recording, Sanchez, who is seen wearing a coffee-stained shirt, is later confronted by an unidentified man in a bathrobe who claims to be the owner of the building. "You guys just stole my motherf**king bike, bro. You want to f**k with me, I'll knock you the f**k out, b***h. I don't give a f**k, bro," the man, who later calls Jesse a "wetback," says.
The remainder of the footage shows the bathrobe-wearing resident and Jesse going back and forth, before the resident who contracted the pair arrives on the scene.
Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department did eventually arrive on the scene; however, since they did not witness Polon throw the coffee on Sanchez, it was left up to him to file charges. Sanchez later explained to local news station KTLA 5 that he declined to do so out of fear it would cause employment setbacks. Had Sanchez gone forward, Polon would've been arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor battery, according to officials.
KTLA 5 reported that officers indicated Sanchez's face "was still bright red" from the coffee-flinging altercation.
In a statement to Latino Rebels, Polon, who is the owner of a West Hollywood fitness studio, denied accusations that she was a racist and stressed that the coffee she threw on Sanchez was actually cold.
"I threw cold coffee on him after 45 minutes of [being] harassed by them. I was then scared and did not know what else to do," Polon told the website. "I had nothing to do with the argument that insued [sic] afterwards with the other persons involved."
"I have nothing else to say. I am being harassed for protecting the safety of my home and myself," she added.
In response to the incident, the internet has dubbed the two residents Coffee Cathy and Bathrobe Billy. On Sunday, a Cafe y Pan Dulce Mariachi Party was scheduled to take place near the condo building.
