Dentist Charged With Alleged Burrito Battery

AUGUST 5--An argument early Saturday began over Dr. Esha Persad, a 34-year-old dentist, getting her husband “Taco Bell and McDonald’s for his birthday,” according to court records.

During the 12:20 AM squabble, Persad allegedly “threw a soft shell taco” at the 35-year-old birthday boy. The delicacy struck the man “on the right side of the face,” cops reported.

When a patrolman responded to the couple’s St. Petersburg residence, “the burrito was still on the victim’s face.”

It is unclear why an arrest report alternately refers to the Mexican missile as a taco and a burrito (though perhaps the investigator was actually referring to a tortilla).

The victim, who has been married to Persad for five years, said he was not injured by the Taco Bell menu item.

After being read her rights, Persad reportedly said she “threw a burrito at the victim after he threw a bag at her,” a claim the man denied.

Persad was arrested for domestic battery, a misdemeanor, and booked into the county jail, from which she was later released on her own recognizance.

Persad and her spouse last year purchased their Florida home for $535,000. Persad, who grew up in Bangalore, India, holds dental licenses in Florida and South Carolina, where the couple previously resided.

A bio on the website of the dental practice where Persad works notes that she and her husband “wholeheartedly embrace the coastal lifestyle” and delight in “savoring our community’s different culinary offerings.” (1 page)