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Coffee tampering claims lead to arrests
By ERIC GERSHON
STAFF WRITER
HYANNIS - Two Dunkin' Donuts employees face criminal charges for spitting and urinating in coffee they served to patrons of the North Street shop where they worked, authorities said.
Two employees at the Dunkin' Donuts shop at 149 North Street are accused of spitting in coffee before giving it to customers through the drive-thru.
(Staff photo by Kevin Mingora)
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A six-day investigation by Barnstable police - who thought fellow officers might have swilled the spiked joe - led to felony charges against Rodrigo Rodrigues, 22, of Centerville and Junior DaSilva, 26, of Hyannis, who worked at the Dunkin' Donuts at 149 North St.
Each faces one count of distributing food intended or expected to cause injury.
The men are free on bail after arraignment in Barnstable District Court this week. They were arrested Feb. 3.
Police began asking questions on Jan. 29, after an anonymous tipster said the store manager was ''SPITTING and putting URINE in POLICE OFFICERS COFFEE,'' according to a police report filed in court.
Rodrigues was the store's manager, police said.
At least one doughnut shop employee told police she heard DaSilva threaten to spit in a customer's coffee and heard Rodrigues encourage him.
On one occasion, the woman heard DaSilva ''make a spitting sound while the coffees were in front of him,'' then saw him serve the drinks to a customer, according to the police report.
The woman did not see DaSilva spit in the coffee, the report says.
The day before DaSilva's arrest, he told police he witnessed Rodrigues spit in a customer's coffee, put a lid on the cup, then shake it. DaSilva then gave the cup to a customer at the drive-through window, police said.
On another occasion, DaSilva pretended to spit in the coffee of patrons who said their order wasn't filled properly, he told police. But he said he knew nothing about coffee with urine added to it, police said.
Police do not identify anyone as having directly observed any employee of the coffee shop urinating in coffee.
Police also do not seem to have found any police officer who claims to have received contaminated coffee - the police report mentions none.
Repeated attempts to reach Rodrigues and DaSilva, both through their lawyers and at home telephone numbers listed in court records, were unsuccessful.
A woman who identified herself as ''a friend'' of Rodrigues answered the phone at his mother's house, but said he no longer lived there. The woman said she would pass along a message.
When reached by phone, John O'Connor, a Dunkin' Donuts manager who cooperated with police, said he was in a meeting and would call back later. He neither called nor responded to messages left for him.
Barnstable police spokesman Sgt. Sean Sweeney said both Rodrigues and DaSilva were no longer working at Dunkin' Donuts.
Police indicated that both men, who are originally from Brazil, may have been in the United States illegally.
Sweeney did not know if his department had contacted immigration authorities or planned to.
Both men surrendered their Brazilian passports, according to First Assistant District Attorney Michael Trudeau.
If convicted, Rodrigues and DaSilva could face up to five years in prison.
Rodrigues also faces unrelated motor vehicle charges from a Feb. 2 traffic stop, police said.
Sweeney said he had not bought coffee from the shop where they worked.
''I don't drink coffee,'' he said.
Eric Gershon can be reached at egershon@capecodonline.com.
(Published: February 11, 2006)
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__________________________________________________ __
By ERIC GERSHON
STAFF WRITER
HYANNIS - Two Dunkin' Donuts employees face criminal charges for spitting and urinating in coffee they served to patrons of the North Street shop where they worked, authorities said.
Two employees at the Dunkin' Donuts shop at 149 North Street are accused of spitting in coffee before giving it to customers through the drive-thru.
(Staff photo by Kevin Mingora)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A six-day investigation by Barnstable police - who thought fellow officers might have swilled the spiked joe - led to felony charges against Rodrigo Rodrigues, 22, of Centerville and Junior DaSilva, 26, of Hyannis, who worked at the Dunkin' Donuts at 149 North St.
Each faces one count of distributing food intended or expected to cause injury.
The men are free on bail after arraignment in Barnstable District Court this week. They were arrested Feb. 3.
Police began asking questions on Jan. 29, after an anonymous tipster said the store manager was ''SPITTING and putting URINE in POLICE OFFICERS COFFEE,'' according to a police report filed in court.
Rodrigues was the store's manager, police said.
At least one doughnut shop employee told police she heard DaSilva threaten to spit in a customer's coffee and heard Rodrigues encourage him.
On one occasion, the woman heard DaSilva ''make a spitting sound while the coffees were in front of him,'' then saw him serve the drinks to a customer, according to the police report.
The woman did not see DaSilva spit in the coffee, the report says.
The day before DaSilva's arrest, he told police he witnessed Rodrigues spit in a customer's coffee, put a lid on the cup, then shake it. DaSilva then gave the cup to a customer at the drive-through window, police said.
On another occasion, DaSilva pretended to spit in the coffee of patrons who said their order wasn't filled properly, he told police. But he said he knew nothing about coffee with urine added to it, police said.
Police do not identify anyone as having directly observed any employee of the coffee shop urinating in coffee.
Police also do not seem to have found any police officer who claims to have received contaminated coffee - the police report mentions none.
Repeated attempts to reach Rodrigues and DaSilva, both through their lawyers and at home telephone numbers listed in court records, were unsuccessful.
A woman who identified herself as ''a friend'' of Rodrigues answered the phone at his mother's house, but said he no longer lived there. The woman said she would pass along a message.
When reached by phone, John O'Connor, a Dunkin' Donuts manager who cooperated with police, said he was in a meeting and would call back later. He neither called nor responded to messages left for him.
Barnstable police spokesman Sgt. Sean Sweeney said both Rodrigues and DaSilva were no longer working at Dunkin' Donuts.
Police indicated that both men, who are originally from Brazil, may have been in the United States illegally.
Sweeney did not know if his department had contacted immigration authorities or planned to.
Both men surrendered their Brazilian passports, according to First Assistant District Attorney Michael Trudeau.
If convicted, Rodrigues and DaSilva could face up to five years in prison.
Rodrigues also faces unrelated motor vehicle charges from a Feb. 2 traffic stop, police said.
Sweeney said he had not bought coffee from the shop where they worked.
''I don't drink coffee,'' he said.
Eric Gershon can be reached at egershon@capecodonline.com.
(Published: February 11, 2006)
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From: Knoxville, TN
Originally Posted by Quintin
And this is why I avoid eating out whenever I can.
Having worked at a business that was subject to Health Dept. review in NC, I know that some of the things that places get docked for are quite nit-picky. The place I worked, we never had below a 97 for the 5+ years I was employed there. My boss, boy would she get pissed at us for a less-than-100 score. But, as time wore on, she started to realize we were losing points in non-food handling/cooking related areas. The most nit-picky thing we got docked for was the temp. of our sink's hot water. The guy would check the temp and it would read 138-139, where the "target" temp was supposed to be 140, if I remember correctly. So, we found the hot water heater that supported our sinks, and turned it up just ever so slightly. Our next random inspection, the guy checks the water again. This time we're pushing 155. Now he docks us for being "too hot," explaining it was too hot to use.
We just threw up our hands, and decided that a 97-99 score was good, kept a watch on our water temp, and kept in mind our score was better than most places in the city.