Employees at a local restaurant have provided sworn affidavits in support of their boss accused of an attack on a teen worker.
Danielle Leah Lofley, 49, owner of the Big Bass Grill in Lake Panasoffkee, was arrested Dec. 19 on a charge of battery.
Lofley used profanity and was “lecturing” the young female employee about “work ethics” on Dec. 16 in the cooler room, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The employee, who alleges that Lofley grabbed her right bicep, left the restaurant after the altercation, drove home and informed her parents of the incident with her boss.
Affidavits in support of Lofley have since been filed in Sumter County Court, including two from restaurant employees who said they witnessed the exchange between Lofley and the employee. One of the female employees said that Lofley told the teen worker “to step up her game and do better at work.” She said Lofley and the teen “hugged and it was over.” The other female employee said she was at the bar when she saw the exchange between Lofley and the teen worker. Lofley apparently told the 18-year-old worker that “she cannot be all over a minor boy that works there,” according to the sworn affidavit. She also said Lofley and the worker “hugged” at the end of the discussion.
Lofley has pleaded not guilty in the case.