Diner Accused of Assaulting Woman At Twin Cities Restaurant

COON RAPIDS (AP) - A 43-year-old woman is accused of attacking another woman because she didn't speak English while they were dining separately at a restaurant in the Twin Cities.

Jodie Burchard-Risch was charged Monday with third-degree assault in Anoka County District Court. She was arrested Friday shortly after the incident at Applebee's in Coon Rapids.

Burchard-Risch is accused of yelling at the woman, who was sitting in a nearby booth, because she was upset that the woman was speaking a foreign language. Restaurant managers tried to intervene, but Burchard-Risch refused to leave.

Court records allege Burchard-Risch continued to yell at the woman, and then threw a drink on her and smashed a beer mug across her face.

Burchard-Risch is scheduled to return to court Dec. 7. It wasn't immediately known if she has an attorney.