Three teenage food service workers in Florida were fired and arrested on felony charges for allegedly spitting into the food they prepared for two on-duty deputies on April 27.
“There is no excuse for actions such as this and will not be tolerated,” said Okeechobee Sheriff Noel E. Stephen in a statement.
An anonymous person informed the owner of the restaurant about the food tampering and the owner immediately viewed the surveillance video footage. “It was later discovered that three employees had conspired together to spit in the deputies food,” said the release.
“All three were immediately fired and the Okeechobee City Police Department was contacted. The owners of the establishment were quite upset and have been cooperating to the fullest extent in this matter,” the Sheriff’s office said.
Detectives reviewed the videos and interviewed all three high school students—Molly Spearow, 16, Alex Armstrong, 17 and Logan Pope, 17.
“(They) were each charged with Florida Anti-Tampering Act- Food, a 1st Degree Felony, and Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer (LEO), a 3rd Degree Felony. All were transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice,” the release said.
Employee Puts Laxative on Pizza
In another food tampering incident, a restaurant in North Texas was forced to close temporarily and its health permit was pulled after police found that employees put a laxative on a pizza served to another employee.A resident informed police that an employee at the restaurant bragged on social media about secretly adding Miralax to a pizza.
Miralax is an over-the-counter remedy that is used to treat occasional constipation.
During an inspection of Mr. Jim’s Pizza, police discovered that the pizza the three employees tainted was unknowingly eaten by another employee, who became sick.
The three employees told police that they didn’t put any laxative on the pizzas sold to customers.
Mouse Droppings Found in Pizza
In another health incident, a pizzeria in Indiana was closed down February last year after mouse droppings were discovered baked into the pizza.The customer picked up a pepperoni Hot-N-Ready pizza at 2181 N. Meridian St. in northern Indianapolis. Health department supervisor Derek Trackwell said the customer found the mouse droppings after leaving the restaurant.
“Fortunately, they did not consume any of it,” Trackwell said.
The customer took the pizza back and called local officials. Police then contacted health department officials, who asked the customer if he consumed any of the pizza, according to the Star.
“There was a good amount. It was very obvious that there were numerous mouse droppings in the pizza,” Trackwell said of the testing. “It’s not very often that we run into that amount of evidence of mouse droppings in a food product.”
