A police officer who fell ill after sipping some iced tea he bought from a McDonald’s branch in Indianapolis ended up in the hospital after drinking cleaning chemicals which were in the beverage.
When Officer Paul Watkins went to get a drink before starting his shift on Saturday night, the last thing he expected was to wind up in the hospital from drinking poison.
Jerilyn Watkins, who spoke to reporters about what had happened to her husband , said, “He filled his cup and took a big gulp and immediately his throat started burning down into his chest.”
Elizabeth Henry, the owner of the McDonald’s branch where the incident took place, released the following statement.
“Serving my customers safe, high quality food and beverages is a top priority at our restaurants. We take this claim very seriously and are looking into the matter.”
When the cop spit out the iced tea after realizing it tasted funny, he was told by the branch manager that he had ingested cleaning chemicals .
Sam Jacobs, Watkins’ attorney, said, “The irony of this all was that manager asked Paul if he wanted another cup or glass of tea and told one of the employees, ‘Hey, get this guy another tea. Paul said ‘No, thanks’ and left. By time he got not very far in his police car, he became violently ill.”
According to the police report about the incident, a “heavy duty degreaser” chemical had been introduced, either by accident or on purpose, to the beverage, resulting in the hospitalization of the cop.
Jerilyn Watkins told reporters, “My husband has never drank, never smoked, never done drugs. This is just insane.”
As Watkins recovers in hospital, his attorney confirmed that a lawsuit against the fast food giant has not yet been filed. His client hopes to come to some kind of settlement with McDonald’s before issuing a suit.
