Elmhurst Woman Who Argued With 'Liberals' At Store Pleads Guilty

ELMHURST, IL – An Elmhurst woman who argued with people she labeled "liberals" has pleaded guilty in the December incident, her lawyer says. One of the charges was dropped.

On Thursday, Gabriella Del Toro, 42, provided Patch with her lawyer's email from earlier in the day.

In the email, George Boucher, an assistant public defender, said his client pleaded guilty to counts of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. An attempted battery charge was dismissed.

Boucher told Del Toro she was required to complete 130 hours of community service and pay fines. Her deadline is March 2023.

Until then, she is barred from Ace Hardware, 1028 S. York St., where the incident occurred, Boucher said.

Police accused Del Toro of spitting on customers on the afternoon of Dec. 7, but she denied she did so. The charges to which she pleaded do not include the police's allegation of spitting.

In February, Del Toro provided Patch with videos of part of her dispute with two women outside the hardware store. She allowed Patch to report on what was said in the videos, but not post them.

Patch wrote a story documenting what happened in the videos.

At one point, Del Toro accused one of the women of being ugly and unemployed.

In an email to Patch, Del Toro said, "The dispute started because I was yelling out loud political obscenities (completely inappropriate). The women didn't like what I was saying, which I don't blame them, but the case I'm fighting is them saying that I spit on them."