SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The infamous Chili Finger Lady is in hot water again, accused of cooking up another yarn that authorities find less than palatable.

Last time, the lie was about a severed finger. This time, prosecutors say, it's about a wounded ankle.

Anna Ayala, the woman behind the notorious 2005 hoax involving a segment of human finger strategically placed as an extortion-flavored ingredient in a bowl of fast-food chili, is again behind bars after being arrested Thursday on charges of being an accessory to a felony and filing a false police report.

The finger escapade was a weird scam that attracted worldwide attention -- an oddball plot by Ayala and her husband to bilk money out of Wendy's restaurants after her husband bought a dismembered ring finger for $100 from a co-worker who had lost it in a workplace accident. Even though they were exposed, the restaurant claimed to have lost $21 million because the stomach-turning tale sent customers elsewhere.

This time, Santa Clara County prosecutor Bret Wasley said her lie wasn't for financial gain, but rather to protect her son, whom police found suffering from a gunshot wound to the ankle in front of an Alviso, Calif., home where he lived with his mom.

Guadalupe "Junior" Reyes has a previous burglary conviction, Wasley said, and is not allowed to possess a gun. He told officers he was approached by a pair and shot "for no rhyme or reason," Wasley said.

Mom backed up the story.

She gave vivid descriptions from head to toe: one assailant wore a black Oakland A's cap and Air Jordan sneakers. Another looked like someone known on the streets as "Cruz" -- a big man with a goatee and abnormally large ears who rolled up on a black bicycle. She even offered a possible last name.

Detectives came up with a match.

"I don't know if it was someone she knew who she described or how she came up with the description," Wasley said.

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