Possible phone threat examined

Costa Mesa police are investigating a possibly threatening phone call made to local restaurant owner Mirna Burciaga on Monday, the day dozens of businesses in Orange County closed during a nationwide economic boycott to support immigrant rights.

Burciaga closed her restaurant Monday because her employees didn’t come to work, but she was at the restaurant doing paperwork most of the day, she said.

Around 6:40 p.m. someone called the West 19th Street restaurant, and a man’s voice began leaving a message saying he wanted to see whether she had closed the restaurant to endorse “illegal alien criminals who are here demanding rights,” Burciaga said.

She picked up the phone partway through the message and the caller told her if she supports illegal immigrants, “You and your business will pay the consequences.”

The caller then hung up, she said.

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Marty Carver said it’s not clear what the caller meant, and he could have been indicating he would not spend any money at Burciaga’s restaurant.

“She felt it to be threatening ? we took it as such, and it’s still under investigation,” he said, adding, “The threat has to be pretty clearly stated for it to constitute a threat.”

Police planned to turn the case over to the Orange County district attorney’s office today, Carver said.

Burciaga has been a visible figure among a group of business owners who oppose the Costa Mesa City Council’s plan to train police for immigration enforcement.

Her stance on that issue led supporters of the Minuteman Project to hold two protests outside her restaurant in March, but police reported no problems from those demonstrations.