Three Fast-Food Workers Arrested After Allegedly Reserving Spit-Tampered Meal for Customer

Three employees at a fast-food restaurant in Union, South Carolina, were arrested after police said they took food that had been thrown in the trash, spat in it, repackaged it, and served it back to an angry customer. The woman had complained about her meal and asked for a refund, but instead was offered a remade order.

The incident began in late May when the customer went to the restaurant’s drive-thru and received a meal she said was unsatisfactory. Staff took back the original food and told her they would prepare the order again rather than return her money. She accepted, left believing she had been given fresh food, and drove away.

Shortly afterward, an employee who witnessed what happened called the customer and told her the truth, according to police accounts reported in the article. The caller said the coworkers did not make a new meal, but pulled the old food from the garbage, spit on it, and wrapped it up again. The customer stopped her car, checked the bag, and realized it was the same meal she had returned minutes earlier.

She then filed a formal complaint with local police and contacted the store manager for answers. The manager confirmed an internal inquiry and said the three employees had each received written reprimands in their personnel files. Police opened a criminal investigation and arrested the three suspects separately in mid-June on serious food-tampering charges.