A place once known for having great pizza and wings took on a new reputation on Oct. 21.
“Jura Aghassi, 59, of Turlock, was booked into Stanislaus County Jail by Oakdale Police investigators on Monday after a month-long investigation into allegations by an adult female employee of a forced sexual assault at Jura’s Pizza on North Yosemite Ave., in Oakdale,” according to the Turlock Journal.
A former employee of the Turlock Jura’s Pizza Parlor anonymously came forward to discuss her experiences working with Jura. Although Jura’s sister runs the Turlock location she still had many encounters working with Jura.
“He worked there too; he made pizzas on certain days,” the anonymous source said.
After hearing of Jura’s arrest, my source expressed that she was not surprised.
“He wasn’t really a professional person,” she said. “He kind of just did whatever he wanted to do.”
Her initial observation of Jura was that he was “really confident for an older man.” She observed that he had no fear of talking to younger women.
When asked how he treated female employees, she had much to say, “I would see him with other waitresses and he was inappropriate sometimes,” she said. “He often made rude comments but they were subtle.”
Although he was suggestive towards the female employees, she believes he did not show biases towards them. “He was just really friendly with women. He had a really young girlfriend at the time.”
There were moments when Jura made my source feel uncomfortable.
“I remember he got a little too close, and he invaded my bubble,” she said. “Once he paid for my drinks…he invited me to a bar once.”
After the sexual assault claims were made, Jura’s Pizza Parlor in Oakdale closed for business.
The business’s Facebook site has a post dated Sept. 22, 2014 which states, “Thank you to our loyal Oakdale customers for supporting us the past few months. Unfortunately business was just too slow and we had to shut down. We will let everyone know if we will have another location opening but for now make sure to get your pizza and hot wing fix at Jura’s Pizza in Turlock,” according to the Turlock Journal.
“He was nice, but he would be inappropriate sometimes,” she said. Throughout the interview my source continued to tell me how nice he was. Although I admire her politeness, she reflects the common ideology that we should be polite to all, even those who makes us feel a sense of danger.
People who make inappropriate comments jump rope on the line between a “come-on” and sexual harassment. The victim’s skin crawls as they hear someone objectifies their body. It’s a power struggle, and we can’t let them win.
If you ever feel like someone is sexually harassing you, subtly ask them for clarification. If they are bold enough to subtly make a comment, then they should be bold enough to say it bluntly, right? Tell them their comments are inappropriate, and you will not tolerate it. Regain your power by taking theirs.