Fairfax County police confirmed an incident in which an employee of the fast food chain Dunkin’ Donuts allegedly sprayed donuts with a cleaning product containing bleach and handed them to a group of teenagers. The teens later went on to eat the donuts in question. Midway through their particular feast they realized something was wrong with the donuts.
The incident happened at Dunkin’ Donuts in the 2900 block of Chain Bridge Road in Oakton, Virginia. No one was injured, and no one has presented charges yet, but the authorities launched a criminal investigation.
With the safety and well-being of customers being the franchise’s top priority, the crew member was fired immediately after Virginia police determined the worker had sprayed the donuts with a substance containing bleach.
“We have been informed by the franchise owner that he has terminated the employee involved,” Dunkin’ Donuts said in a statement that confirmed the incident.
Dunkin’ Donuts added that they were going to give full cooperation with local authorities to shed light on the matter, recommending further questions about the incident to be directed to the police department.
Police officers confiscated the whole lot of donuts
Fairfax County police, through a statement of their own, said they had been receiving reports of assault, before answering a call from a Dunkin’ Donuts store on Monday night. The store sits in the 2900 block of Chain Bridge Road in Oakton.
When police officers arrived at the scene, they carried a preliminary investigation which confirmed that the group of five teenagers was, indeed, given poisoned donuts.
Police confiscated the remaining donuts as evidence, while prosecutors are considering possible charges of misdemeanor assault. Additionally, people who may have information linked to the case is being asked to contact Crime Solvers or the Fairfax County Police.
The employee was annoyed of the teenagers asking for free donuts
Monica Meeks, a spokeswoman for the local police department, declared that the teens had previously received free donuts, that would otherwise have been discarded by the store, from another clerk at the same location.
According to Meeks, the employee working the night of the incident initially refused multiple times on company policy grounds but ultimately gave in and told the teenagers to return later. In the meantime, the employee sprayed the donuts with “a cleaning solution that contained bleach”. When the group came back, he gave them a box of donuts.
Meeks added that two of the teens ate whole donuts, while the other three only took bites. They eventually coincided that the donuts tasted funny, at which point they contacted the authorities.
None of the teens resulted seriously injured, nor required medical assistance, but their parents are deciding whether to press charges, which could obviously target the employee responsible for the incident as well as Dunkin’ Donuts.
Source: WTOP