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Glass eating Deputies file suit

Two Deputies were eating at McDonald’s when they discovered tiny bits of glass mixed in with the onions on their burgers. Only 17 employees were in the restaurant at the time, so the list of suspects was, shall we say, limited. But the case was never solved.

Two Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies who said they were fed shards of glass in their McDonald's cheeseburgers filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the restaurant, its parent company and its local holding company.

The lawsuit claims the businesses were negligent for hiring employees who would put glass in a meal and should have more carefully inspected the food.

``It's really sad when you think these law enforcement people are out there protecting our community and they can't even go into a restaurant without getting targeted,'' said Barry Cohen, the attorney representing both deputies.

About 5 p.m. July 10, Stuart O'Shannon and Daniel Witt stopped at the McDonald's at 920 E. Fowler Ave. The two uniformed deputies were the only customers in the restaurant.

As O'Shannon ate his burger, he started choking, then began to spit up blood. He opened the bun and saw small shards of clear glass mixed in with the chopped onions, the lawsuit states. Witt also ate some of the glass but was not injured as severely, Cohen said.
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No one has been arrested in the incident, Cohen said. About 17 employees were interviewed by detectives that night, sheriff's officials said.

The fact that no arrests have ever been made in this case is bizarre.

I see two possible explanations. First, an employee may have intentionally targeted the Deputies, stealthily inserted the glass into their burgers, and somehow avoided detection during the ensuing investigation. Not all that likely, when you consider that the Sheriff’s Office had the restaurant locked down for hours after the incident and that they had a very limited pool of suspects.

The other, much more likely scenario, is that the Deputies did this to themselves. I have seen no evidence to back this theory, but it makes a lot of sense. Both Deputies noticed this glass before doing much damage to themselves. No employees have ever been charged, despite a thorough investigation. McDonald’s has very deep pockets and may even settle this lawsuit out of court rather than risk negative publicity.

Stay tuned.