ANAHEIM, Calif. >> Four people were arrested Monday on charges of assault with a deadly weapon after authorities said they rammed a waitress with their Volkswagen while leaving a restaurant without paying the bill.

The 19-year-old waitress suffered minor injuries in the confrontation outside a Mexican eatery in an unincorporated area near Anaheim, Orange County sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock said.

The waitress chased the group into the parking lot after they left without paying, a department statement said. She tried to speak with them in their car but they drove away, striking her and knocking her to the ground.

The waitress, Maria Uriostegui, told several media outlets as she was released from the hospital that she had a bad feeling about the group from the beginning.

“I kept kind of a close eye on them because I just had that sense,” she said. “And yes, they just walked out, and I went to tell them, ‘I’m sorry, you guys forgot to pay your bill.’ They, the four of them, turned around, looked at me, laughed and just kept walking to their car.”

One sheriff’s official said she shouldn’t have sought them out herself.

“It wasn’t a smart idea for her to go out and confront them,” Lt. Lloyd Downing told City News Service. “That wasn’t an accident. They weren’t getting away. They wanted her out of the way.”

Early Monday, authorities spotted a vehicle that matched the description of the car from the crash in a motel parking lot in the city of Stanton. Deputies arrested Rowshaid Pellum, 24, of Cerritos, and Markeisha Williams, 18, Shyteice Miles, 19, and Santeea Ralph, 23, all of Long Beach.

Pellum was booked into jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy and defrauding an innkeeper. Williams, Miles and Ralph were booked on charges of accessory to assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy and defrauding an innkeeper.