A Texas teenager was arrested by police after he was caught drinking from an Arizona Tea bottle at a store then putting it back on the shelf on July 15.
Security footage captured the 15-year-old spitting into the drink at an Albertsons in North County Road West in Odessa. According to the affidavit, the teenager reportedly told store’s asset protection manager that he had tampered with the beverage, reported KOSA.
Police watched the security footage with the asset protection manager after arriving at the store. The video showed the teenager taking an Arizona Tea bottle off the shelf, putting his mouth on the drink, and then putting it back, the officer wrote in an affidavit, according to the CBS affiliate.
The responding officer said the teen told him “repeatedly” that he put back the Arizona Tea bottle he had spat into after drinking from it because it was “gross.”
The 15-year-old has since been charged with a second-degree felony—tampering with consumer products—and is currently being held at the Ector County Youth Center.
Other Food-Related Crimes
A Texas woman was banned from a local Walmart after police said she ate half a cake and refused to pay for the other half, according to Fox News.
Police in Wichita Falls received a call about a theft just after 8 p.m. on June 25. According to WWOR, the woman, who was not identified, walked into the Walmart on Greenbrier Road, took a cake from the bakery section, and started eating it while browsing through the store. She then claimed that half the cake was missing, which prompted the store manager to call the police.
Police said the woman wanted to pay half price for the cake because half of the baked good was missing.
The woman ended up paying full price for the cake but police also banned her from shopping at the store, according to WWOR.
At another Walmart in Wichita Falls, a woman was reported to be drinking wine from a Pringles can while riding on an electric shop cart for disabled shoppers on the parking lot, according to Fox46. When police arrived on the premises a witness said the woman had been outside riding the carts for hours.
Police officers found her in a nearby restaurant and banned her from the Walmart.
Blue Bell Ice Cream Licking Incident
Louisiana authorities arrested a man who was seen on video opening an ice cream container in front of a freezer at a store, licking the ice cream, and putting the container back.
A Texas juvenile was facing charges for doing the same thing in June, sparking a number of copycats.
Lenise Martin III, 36, was one such according to the Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Video footage showed a man appearing to be Martin holding a Blue Bell container while keeping the freezer door open with his body. He took the lid off of the container, licked it, looked both ways, used a finger to take a little out and eat it, and licked it again.
He then placed the lid back on and, while laughing, stuck the container back into the freezer.
Investigators said management at the store was alerted to the footage after it started circulating online, reported WAFB. Martin later went to the store and produced a receipt saying it proved that he bought the container he was accused of tampering with.
But managers provided information to the sheriff’s office that led to his arrest.
Martin faces charges of unlawful posting of criminal activity for notoriety and publicity and tampering with property.
NTD Staff Writer Zachary Stieber contributed to this article.
