Norwich — City police on Monday charged a 22-year-old Plainfield woman with using a racial slur during an incident outside a Starbucks coffee shop last week.

Holly Chalifoux, 22, of 10 Simmons Ave., Moosup, was charged at noon Monday with third-degree intimidation based on bigotry or bias in the June 2 incident. The charge is a Class E felony punishable by up to three years in prison and up to a $3,500 fine, with a minimum fine of $1,000.

The alleged victim in the case, Marcela Lee, had her cellphone camera recording and captured the driver shouting a threat at her, with the “n-word” being uttered in the background while leaving the Starbucks drive-thru. Lee said the driver behind her, who police say was Chalifoux, had been revving her engine and yelling at her that she was late for work.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Chalifoux initially told police she used different language but she could understand how that statement could be confused with the racial slur.

When police offered to play Lee's video, the affidavit stated, "the accused hung her head down and said she didn't want to review the video and admitted that she had said 'that word.'"

Police said Chalifoux attempted to explain her reaction by saying she was pregnant, had quit smoking and drinking, and could not take her anxiety medication, the affidavit stated.

Chalifoux wrote and signed a sworn statement admitting to the incident and language similar to what the video revealed. She also stated she knew the woman in the car in front of her was black before she made the racial slur, because she could see her at the drive-thru window.

"The accused continued her statement stating she understood she was wrong, but felt the victim was wrong too for recording her." 

Free on a $25,000 non-surety bond, Chalifoux is due to appear July 30 in Norwich Superior Court.

Reached by phone Monday evening, Chalifoux said she was upset and had apologized and felt she already was suffering consequences, as people were already sharing news stories of her arrest and she was receiving harrassing comments. She said she felt the incident would follow her "the rest of my life."

Lee said police had contacted her Monday afernoon to inform her of the arrest. Lee said she was "proud" of the way Norwich police handled the investigation and that they took her complaint seriously.

"I think it’s a win for our entire comunity," Lee said. "The stand our entire nation and world are taking right now is that we are not going to take this kind of abuse anymore. We’re not going to tolerate it."

Lee said she was unconvinced of Chalifoux's sincerity in the signed statement police described in the affidavit, because Chalifoux allegedly admitted to making the comments only after learning from police the comments were captured on video.

Shiela Hayes, president of the Norwich branch of the NAACP, also commended police and Starbucks employees for assisting police and for treating the incident seriously.

Hayes and Lee both said they plan to follow the case through the court system.

Hayes said she was disturbed by Chalifoux's alleged comment to police that she "wouldn't normally use the racial slur," the affidavit stated.

"It is fitting into the pattern," Hayes said, "that when people who use racially motivated, threatening, derogatory words, when they’re caught, then it’s: ‘Well, no, that’s not the way I speak, that wasn’t my intent.’ How do we get individuals to understand you can no longer use that as a cover?"

c.bessette@theday.com