Worker testifies to food tainting

By Michael Zeigler Democrat and Chronicle

(Tuesday, June 5, 2001) -- As cooks prepared sandwiches at a Burger King restaurant in Henrietta, they kept an assembly line of fast food moving smoothly.

But when customers asked to hold the pickles or hold the lettuce -- or requested any special order that would break the tempo -- some cooks became upset and retaliated, a former employee said yesterday.

Testifying in the trial of Scott B. Savino, who is charged with sickening a customer by spraying a sandwich with oven cleaner, Daniel P. Musson said he and Savino frequently laced sandwiches with cleaning products or spit on and "skated" on frozen meat patties that were thrown to the kitchen floor before being flame-broiled.

Musson, who pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Savino, said he gave little thought to their actions.

"I thought it'd be funny and it was a cool thing to do at the time," he said.

"Were you laughing when you did this?" Musson was asked by Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Jim Wolford.

"Yes, sir," Musson replied.

"Was the defendant?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did he say anything to you?"

"Just -- 'They're going to get a good one,' or 'You've got a good one,' or 'They're going to like this one,' " Musson said.

Savino, 20, of Henrietta is charged with second-degree assault and first-degree tampering with a consumer product. He is accused of injuring Monroe County Sheriff's Deputy Gamaliel "Tony" Dominguez, who became violently ill on April 30, 2000, after eating a Whopper sandwich at the restaurant on the New York state Thruway.

Savino could receive up to seven years in prison if convicted. Jurors might receive the case tomorrow.

Musson, 19, of Henrietta, pleaded guilty last fall to first-degree tampering with a consumer product. He faces a penalty ranging from six months of weekends in jail to three years in prison when he is sentenced next week.

Musson said he pleaded guilty in an attempt to make things right.

"What I did was wrong," he said. "I believe that if you did it, 'fess up to it."

Musson said he was spitting on special-order sandwiches before Savino began working at the restaurant in October 1999. The tampering escalated as they teamed up, he said.

On one occasion, Savino and Musson stuck two frozen meat patties above a suspended ceiling for five days, then cooked and served them.

"It was flimsy," he said of his patty after it was cooked. "It had a brownish tinge to it like freezer burn."

Musson also said Savino claimed to have urinated on a patty, but he admitted that he didn't see it happen.

During cross-examination, Savino's lawyer, Michael J. Tallon, concentrated on discrepancies between Musson's testimony and what he said previously to investigators and grand jurors.

-- Anonymous, June 06, 2001

Answers

Stories like this are what spawn urban legends, like the Kentucky Fried Rat and such.

I must admit that this report doesn't surprise me: there's a lot of hate and boredom out there among the young. Do you remember the old saying, "Never trust anyone over 30?" Anymore, I have to turn it around: "Never trust anyone *under* 30."

No offense to the under 30-somethings on this board who are responsible citizens and preppers.

-- Anonymous, June 06, 2001

I'm not hungry anymore.

yuck!

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001