ST. GEORGE, Utah, April 26, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A woman being called a Utah “Karen” has been arrested for alleged sexual battery after a dust up in a restaurant over the length of a teen’s skirt.
Ida Lorenzo, 48, was booked into the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane Wednesday on the class A misdemeanor after several days of investigation by St. George police of the Sunday April 21 confrontation in the lobby of a St. George restaurant.
Lorenzo had reported the incident first the night of April 21, according to her charging documents, claiming she had pulled the young woman’s skirt down because she was “exposing her entire vagina” and pubic hair was visible.
She claimed she never touched the teen’s body, police said.
Video of the confrontation has since gone viral; the police investigation included viewing the video.
The video shows contact between Lorenzo and the woman and her friends, according to charging documents, and Lorenzo can be heard clearly saying “I happen to work for the state and if I have to watch your ass cheeks hanging out again, I will call CPS.” CPS is Child Protective Services, as young children were present in the lobby.
The young woman Lorenzo said she confronted contacted police Monday with a much different version of events, saying Lorenzo came up behind her without warning and groped her, according to a probable cause affidavit.
She told police “she felt cold hands go up her skirt, touching her buttocks before she felt her skirt being pulled on.”
“(The victim) and seven other witnesses came forward and all filled out witness statements that were consistent with (the victim) being approached and touched by Ida,” reads the affidavit. The woman also said she was wearing underpants and shorts over the underpants under her skirt.
The video of the incident in the Sakura restaurant has topped 100,000 views, police said.
