Woman Accused Of Purposely Coughing On $35,000 Worth Of Food At Grocery Store In 'Twisted Prank'

A supermarket in Pennsylvania is trying to pick up the pieces after a woman came in and reportedly purposely coughed all over thousands of dollars worth of fruit, vegetables, and baked goods.

Gerrity’s Supermarkets, and its owner Joe Fasula, made the unfortunate announcement on Facebook Wednesday evening, revealing how a woman who Fasula calls “a chronic problem in the community” entered the company’s store in Hanover Township, Pennsylvania and began coughing all over the food in “a very twisted prank.” WTF?!?!

Obviously, with the coronavirus pandemic ongoing and heightened concerns over social distancing and personal health and hygiene, the woman’s allegedly vile actions are an even bigger news story — and potentially an even bigger public health concern — than ever before. Accordingly, Fasula had to shut down the store, throw out about $35,000 worth of food, and disinfect the entire area while working with a health inspector to avoid further possible COVID-19 exposure for employees and customers. Ugh!!!

The grocery store owner recalled the ordeal in the Facebook post detailing the offense and aftermath, writing in part (below):

“Today was a very challenging day. At 2:20 PM today, I got a call from our Hanover Township store. The manager informed me that a woman, who the police know to be a chronic problem in the community, came in to the store and proceeded to purposely cough on our fresh produce, and a small section of our bakery, meat case and grocery. While there is little doubt this woman was doing it as a very twisted prank, we will not take any chances with the health and well-being of our customers. We had no choice but to throw out all product she came in contact with. Working closely with the Hanover Township health inspector, we identified every area that she was in, we disposed of the product and thoroughly cleaned and disinfected everything.”

Unreal.

In stressful times like these, where people are flocking to grocery stores in the short-term to stock up on food and avoid public situations, somebody decides to go and do something disgusting like this. Awful!!!

Fasula continued, writing more about the massive loss:

“Although we have not yet quantified the total loss, we estimate the value to be well over $35,000. We are checking to see if our insurance company will cover it, but even if they do, our rates will surely go up next year. I am also absolutely sick to my stomach about the loss of food. While it is always a shame when food is wasted, in these times when so many people are worried about the security of our food supply, it is even more disturbing. Our incredible team did the best they could to get the woman out of the store as fast as possible. The police were contacted immediately and the case has been escalated to the District Attorney’s Office. They have assured me that they will be aggressively pursuing numerous charges. In addition, while we do not believe the woman is truly infected, they will make every effort to see that she is tested.”

Here’s hoping the woman wasn’t actually infected, if only for the sake of other customers and employees… and here’s really hoping the DA’s office does decide to “aggressively” pursue charges, as they claim. There’s no place for that behavior!!

Here’s the full post on the Gerrity’s Facebook page, along with pictures of the cleaned-out shelves empty due to one woman’s alleged vile behavior (below):

***Update ****Our produce department was fully stocked by 2 PM today (Thursday). Thank you to everyone who worked so…

Posted by Gerrity's Supermarket on Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Unbelievable.

Grocery store employees nationwide are some of the many groups of people (nurses, doctors, truckers, etc.) who have gone above and beyond in this difficult and uncertain time. They shouldn’t have to deal with awful, disgusting, and dangerous behavior like this!!!

[Image via JLN Photography/WENN]