Taking into consideration that this was a deliberate, malicious act, not accidental food contamination, it absolutely does deserve the sentence. Food service may not be a glorious industry, but food safety is a very serious issue, and people who deliberately contaminate it are threatening the health and safety of everyone they serve. That is a very serious issue. I am NOT making a mountain out of a molehill, and the day you get served food that makes you violently ill, you may be laughing as you vomit, but respect that most people won't find it that funny.

When people buy prepared food, they are buying it with the expectation that it will not be tainted. They have a right to expect that their food will not make them ill, and when it does, people do go to jail. How is this radically different from the peanut contamination that killed people? That was negligence. This was deliberate. If a child or an elderly person had consumed it, and it had been tainted with feces, they could have died, and that's not an exaggeration. People can get really, really sick when food is tainted.

That is the premise behind the hate crimes, to punish the act of intimidating a whole community. Further, usually hate crimes, at least in this state, do not really significantly enhance the sentence.

@LegoMan322: I 100% disagree . This is food tampering,creating a public health hazard,assault,intimidation & health code violations . This is NOT funny . The message has to be sent loud and clear that there are differences between a prank and a CRIMINAL ACT .

If a suspected terrorist or muslim did this they'ed be in gitmo by now . Again this is not a harmless nor funny prank . Food Tampering should be considered a CRIMINAL ACT .

Personally, I don't have a problem with the punishment. Anything less would not make the next person think twice before planting something disgusting on someone's food.

I know that fast food work is degrading, hard, and low paying, but taking it out on the customer is not the right thing to do.

should have stuck with the traditional loogey

I'm sorry people didn't understand your joke; however, I would like to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you..

hahahaha

I think you are wrong. Tampering and altering food is as bad as robbing someone. It causes direct harm and distress to the person who is served the "food."

Adulterating food like this is an act of malice. There is no excuse for it what so ever. I would have to call for zero tolerance on this. (Yes, I worked fast food when I was a kid.)

As much as I have a disdain for cops, messing with people's food is never acceptable. I think the the poisoner got off easy.

Alternatively if it was an accident - in this case it is apparently not, the shop has to make it right. I once found a long hair in my fries at Jack In The Box and the manager just about had a heart attach. She took my fries, then destroyed all the fries in the warming bin (a new batch) gave me new fries (I had to wait for them to cook) and gave me all my money back.

You think that a wad of pubic hair, and mind you this 32 year old took the time to cut them off and insert them into the sandwich (when and only when he knew it was a cop's sandwich) should be let off with a fine and/or forcing him to eat the cops pubic hair on youtube. I think that's retarded, and jail time should be served.

I'll agree if the man did this to a regular person, non cop, then 6 months in jail and 2 years probation is a little much, but the laws are in place so cops aren't targeted for crap like this. But when to pick out law enforcement, you deserve to have the book thrown, and serve the max time allowed based on the crime committed.

Just because he got 6 months doesn't mean he'll serve that much. If their jail is anything like ours, they'll just let him walk to save space for the murderers and rapists.

I do not care about History X or Shawshank. I do care about taking someone's freedom OVER PIECES OF HAIR. Why don't you move to Canada( or better yet Texas, drink some beer while driving with a rifle loaded shooting at squirrels. With that hillbilly attitude over something so small. You want to pull "the big guns out/literally toss the book " on this kid for a really stupid thing to do.

I understand why cops have different laws and I respect that. They are easy targets and I want nothing to happen to them. I said before....if the kid came at the cop with a gun at the cops home....give him many more years to come....but it was a prank....a couple of pieces of hair. This is over kill.

I really don't see harsher laws for "cop attacks" as protecting cops more but as punishing criminals more. The criminal is directly attacking the justice system (government) and a citizen at the same time, thus they warrant a harsher penalty.

/

When you are assaulted while driving in a crime ridden area because there are no more cops because no one wants to be a cop because cops are targeted by criminals because there are no harsher penalties for targeting cops then I want to hear you say to the assaulter "Also I am paying for this to happen and I think you are completely using my money in a really incorrect way."

And I will stand there, chuckle, and walk away.

Laws are here for a purpose, some regulate punishments for crimes. If they are not carried correctly out then there is no purpose for the law and no purpose for government or countries or a whole assortment of things. If you don't like it go do something about it, or move to Canada or simply shut up about something so pitiful. But DON'T complain about how YOUR money is being used wrong. Its not your money, its ours (the people as a whole.)

@LegoMan322: I'm the supply chain supervisor, thefore in charge of all the mess decks, officer's and chief's mess. I make my own food bro! -dave

I'm glad they gave him some time .... although I'm sure he'll be out early for some reason... I live on the OH /PA border and Ohio doesn't have a law that actually allows prosecution of people who tamper with food like this guy or Kristy (from dominos)- another reason not to eat in Ohio- I've had alot of friends who have worked for fast food rest. and they have all given me some horror stories that are enough to make you vomit just hearing about them..... ie; anyone ever seen the movie "Waiting"????? funny as hell but nasty when people do it IRL

I'd say hang him.

a) Kiddies that come along after the fact/never new about this jerko's fate, will not know or care.

b) No crook thinks he (or she) will ever get caught.

@SarcasticDwarf: Deterring others that may be considering such an act may be the only good thing that comes out of this.

Reducing the frequency of behavior is discouragement. Usually punishment is meant to discourage unwanted behavior by the offender, and the effect of discouraging others is especially valuable.

Making people understand "what they have done wrong" is only one small purpose of the legal system, and is usually accomplished when charges are presented as they (usually) clearly outline what the offender has done wrong.

What good is understanding without restitution. That, in addition to understand, is most likely the concept you're reaching for. It's held that criminals owe a debt not only to the victim, but also to society for certain offenses. This is why we have everything from prisons to community service.

Whether the 6 months prison time is sufficient or excessive is a different debate. In this case the sentencing was within the legal limits of what is acceptable, which is why the judge administering justice applied this sentence.

Also I am paying for this to happen and I think you are completely using my money in a really incorrect way.

[begthequestion.info]

It might stem from the fact that my friend in high school was killed by a drunk driver. So I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for them.

SQUARE!!

Lewd is IN! Bin who ? Look in our own backyard you'll find worse terror-Ists.

Great comment..no squares need apply!

Drunk drivers sometimes kill people. Food tamperers sometimes kill people. Even if they don't hurt people, they suffer penalties for the risk that they put people in by their action. Of course they're not identical, and I'm not saying that they are. But I can't agree with the lightness you ascribe to this guy's action, either--so I guess I'm agreeing with you that we won't agree :-).

I don't get why you think a fine is better anyway--with the pittance he's likely to obtain, you're essentially sentencing the guy to homelessness by garnisheeing his wages.

Should he have been driving, heck no. But now he has to deal with state fines, impossible-to-afford insurance, DOT fines, classroom fees, automobile modifications and legal fees. All-in-all, in Iowa your first offense will cost you anywhere from $20K to $40 and they still don't have to give you your license back.

You probably won't do any jail-time, but you'll never drive again.

The police are just doing their job. If they can't go into a Wendy's in uniform and expect food free of hair or bodily fluids, there's something wrong with that restaurant.

What if this was a racially-motivated act, instead of occupational. What if some kid working at Wendy's was putting hair into every burger ordered by a Ginger, or a Latino, or an Eskimo? Would it be to harsh a sentence then?

Granted, the guards are going to beat him nightly.

What if his pubes contained a cure for cancer? What then, give him a medal? Let's talk about what actually happened as opposed to playing the hypothetical game all day long. Besides, the original article addresses your very point, IF he has any diseases they will consider upping the sentence, if not, they won't.

@floraposte: It will be interesting to see what Domino's Dynamic Duo get. While Kristy from Domino's claims that the tainted food never was sent to a customer, I think that we would all agree that we can't assume that this was the case. The contamination between this case and the Domino's case were comperable, and the Domino's (former) employees are facing Felony Food Tampering.

How you or anyone can argue drunk driving vs hair in sandwich is baffling.

I wish to not argue with you since we are not going to agree. Your argument is completely invalid and drawing way the fuck over board. Drunk drivers kill people (or themselves)...pubes....well they worst they do is floss your teeth...even if you are a cop.@rekhihs:

While I don't think this is worse than drunk driving, I also think drunk driving has nothing to do with this case. This guy was an ass and got what he deserved. I bet he will think twice before doing it again.

It's not like he did this randomly, and it happened to be a cop, he targeted a police officer. The laws are in place for the police officers protection, and this asshole is getting what he deserves.

@Kim Shannon: Am I correct in assuming that you checked on West Virginia law and found out that a conviction for drunk driving will only get you three months of probation?

Bender hasn't been in this much trouble since that time he spilled paint in the garage.

@speedwell, avatar of snark: Face it, cops sign up knowing what they're getting into. They don't trust anyone.

I don't think cops sign up expecting to be served contaminated food. If I spent all day in a uniform doing what they do, I probably wouldn't trust anyone either.

@JohnDeere: 2 weeks in jail, 6 months probation, and he has to eat for 1 week everything that Kristy & Michael [consumerist.com] feed to the guy.

I concur with the judge/jury on this. messing with people's food should not be tolerated, regardless of who they are. hope this is an example for the rest of the fast food workers!

-dave

The fact of the matter is that the food was tampered with. What if the victim had eaten the contaminated sandwich, and it turns out the perpetrator had some horrible undiagnosed or undisclosed communicative disease (I'm speaking theoretically here) that was then passed along? It doesn't matter that there was no harm in the end; the intent was there and harm could've been caused.

I think it's a matter of degree here; there deserves to be some punishment but I don't know that I'd have gone as far as the court did.

I don't know whether this is an appropriate sentence or not, but I think you're considering his action more lightweight than it was. I think it's got some similarities to drunk driving, actually, in that it's not necessarily about the harm caused, it's about the wanton disregard for other people's rights and safety. The difference is that he acted deliberately on this disregard, rather than its being a side effect of another process, and that it was deliberately directed at somebody because they were in law enforcement. That's not a prank; that's viciousness that's just too chicken-shit to be more overt.

@LegoMan322: Haha, you're probably right - I would simply be adjusting my concern according to the actual circumstances of the case.

have you all forgotten about our two friends at Domino's that put boogers on and farted on sandwiches?

In many states, intentionally tampering with food like that is a felony.

The jail time is perfectly reasonable in my opinion.

But we need to start using it the CORRECT WAY. A guy goes to the cops house and starts shooting? Toss the book at him. A cop gets a hair in his food? Understand that the hair is NOT an intent to kill or harm. I have never heard of someone dying from a pube.

Although I agree drunk driving is bad...you can't punish people for what might have happened. "You could have killed someone...I think you should get life in prison". Umm...well no one died, and although it was risky behavior, and people HAVE died from it....you can't punish this guy for incidents of when people did die.

As long as we are putting people in jail for smoking pot, which harms no one but yourself (and then...only barely)...I can honestly see putting people in jail for putting body parts or bodily fluids into food, which actually does harm someone else.

Funny how the luck of the commenter draw works, though--the commenters on the Domino's folks want to draw and quarter them for performed food tampering, whereas the commenters here think jail time for actual tampering is too much. Since this was a magistrate-imposed sentence, I wonder if this particular guy would have had a different result with a different magistrate.

You act as if it was a hair that happened by accident. He purposely put foreign matter into food. It's one thing if a hair falls off your head into food. It's another if you are smearing crap or pissing in someone's food.

Err...I relate pubic hair to something like putting feces on food or urinating in someone's drink. I wholeheartedly agree that putting bodily waste purposely on someone's food deserves prison time.

Or a hefty fine unless the kid is rich. But 6 months for a non lethal, stupid prank, which caused no harm (even though someone might have eaten a pube or 2, is completely not only throwing the book at someone, its really reading between the lines also.

Despite everything...no one was harmed. Embarrassed, pissed off, angry, but everyone has all their toes, fingers and other parts of their body intact.

I don't agree. There are people that get prison time for sending out SPAM. I mean...really...prison for sending out junk emails? This is definately something I could see getting prison time for.

As for this, I think the punishment is appropriate. The cop could have gotten sick from this (they did run blood tests).. maybe the worker didn't intend for the cop to potentially get sick, but the drunk driver definitely didn't intend to kill anybody either.

This guy gets a year (6-months deferred)and
local guy who commits a hate crime gets 9 months work release for assaulting a Sikh man.
[seattletimes.nwsource.com]

The system is just completely messed up.

The fact that the cop didn't eat the hair has very little bearing on what the dude's intent was. His intent WAS for the cop to eat it, it was only luck that he didn't. I know that if I inadvertently swallowed a bunch of pubes I'd (hopefuly) throw up and be incredibly grossed out and probably never eat out ever again.

On top of assaulting the cop (this term may be wrong, depending on the state, here assault is any offensive contact - and eating hair applies) he's harmed the restaurant which is now known for employing people who stick pubic hair in people's food.

So, what's a just punishment that will "teach him a lesson"? I really, really want to know.

@LegoMan322: agreed, make him eat a pube sandwich. maybe put it on youtube to embarras him, but jail time is an epic fail for the justice system.

@nakedscience: you crack me up. if harm was intended he would have used the chemicals you spoke of. i mean come on, by your argument he could have thrown a water balloon at the cop and deserved the same sentence, i mean the water could have been a chemical or something, and messing with food could be dangerous according to you. this kid obviously was just playing a prank. i saw worse than this everyday in highschool.

Six months? The prick got off light.

If I ever needed turn signal parts for my car, I'd get them from a wrecked police car. 100% new condition, never used. Can't beat that.

BTW, the word you're looking for is "heinous". As in, "Putting your pubic hair in someone's food is a heinous crime deserving of jail time."

It is hard to get caught for this and you do need to send a message.

It really goes to the persons character and I don't think I want to come in contact with this guy for ANYTHING.

@LegoMan322: No, it's not "just a side effect" -- it's on the same level.

@LegoMan322: Um, just because "no harm was done" doesn't mean it wasn't malicious or that harm wasn't intended.

Kill>frown

If you or your loved one did this or something similar, you would be on your knees begging forgiviness or screaming about how "excessive" this punishment is.

The cop should thank the kid, the worst think to happen is that the cop got his teeth flossed.

@Canino: Funny, isn't it, how those who supposedly represent the state and the people and the law are perfect examples of the worst of all three?

Face it, cops sign up knowing what they're getting into. They don't trust anyone. You and I and the other poor non-government-paid-flunky suckers expect baseline decent treatment from those who prepare our food. Tampering with our food is worse than tampering with some cop's, for the much the same reason punching a ten-year-old in the face is more culpable than punching a fellow adult.

@BeerManMike:
what?

Yes the prank was malice (which is really too strong of a word since NO HARM WAS DONE). The cop probably saw it or worst case scenario is that he spit it out!.

Way over kill on your "equal justice" or "eye for an eye" Even with eye for an eye, the cop gets to put pubes on his sandwich. Time served.

This is the same flawed argument that pro-death penalty advocates use. The death penalty discourages murder. Stats prove that a fallacy.

[/on history lesson]
In the US, jail time was (before it was privatized and institutionalized in the 70's) to be used for allowing an inmate to reflect upon HIS crime, not to "send a message". It was a tool of rehabilitation, not just punishment. This method of incarceration was so unique in the world at the time (1800's), that other countries came here to study our penal system.
[/off history lesson]

This should be about HIS crime, not about discouraging others from doing it. At least that IS how it was intended to be.

If the point is to send a message to others, then it eventually becomes irrelevant as to whether the person in question is even guilty in the first place! Many an overzealous prosecutor has been involved in this kind (unfortunately not too infrequent) process of "justice".

@zibby: LOL, you basically proved why such a crime has a prison sentence: Because people don't care if they have to pay, but they don't want to go to prison. Also, you have shaky ethics.

@mizike: More than "a hair" and what if that person had, crabs or something? This was MALICIOUS. I'm sorry, but he deserved what he got. Don't want to get in trouble? Don't do dumb fucking shit. Simple.

This is the same flawed argument that pro-death penalty advocates use. The death penalty discourages murder. Stats prove that a fallacy.

[/on history lesson]
In the US, jail time was (before it was privatized and institutionalized in the 70's) to be used for allowing an inmate to reflect upon HIS crime, not to "send a message". It was a tool of rehabilitation, not just punishment. This method of incarceration was so unique in the world at the time (1800's), that other countries came here to study our penal system.
[/off history lesson]

This should be about HIS crime, not about discouraging others from doing it. At least that IS how it was intended to be.

If the point is to send a message to others, then it eventually becomes irrelevant as to whether the person in question is even guilty in the first place! Many an overzealous prosecutor has been involved in this kind (unfortunately not too infrequent) process of "justice".

@LegoMan322: ...And it is also let people know that hey, if you do such-and-such, you could very well go to prison, so don't do it!

Then you have just proven that the justice system doesn't work. Has crime stopped????

This is the same flawed argument that pro-death penalty advocates use. The death penalty discourages murder. Stats prove that a fallacy.

[/on history lesson]
In the US, jail time was (before it was privatized and institutionalized in the 70's) to be used for allowing an inmate to reflect upon HIS crime, not to "send a message". It was a tool of rehabilitation, not just punishment. This method of incarceration was so unique in the world at the time (1800's), that other countries came here to study our penal system.
[/off history lesson]

This should be about HIS crime, not about discouraging others from doing it. At least that IS how it was intended to be.

If the point is to send a message to others, then it eventually becomes irrelevant as to whether the person in question is even guilty in the first place! Many an overzealous prosecutor has been involved in this kind (unfortunately not too infrequent) process of "justice".

Does this guy deserve more or less time than a drunk driver? A kid busted with a bag of weed? A tax cheat? Prostitution?

That word 'deserve' is so loaded to begin with. I think this guy DESERVES a pube burger. I like to think of prison as keeping me safe from the people who are in there. So I guess this guy being in there makes me less likely to be served his specialty.

@Mr-Mr: Many laws are that way - police have extra protection (e.g. automatic capital murder charge). It isn't because the individual is special. It's because of what the police represent - the state and the people and the law itself.

Kid of like "contempt of court" - you spend the night in jail because you disrespected the criminal justice system itself, not because you cussed the individual judge.

Any douche who does this needs to be removed from the gene pool as is. This prank wasn't done to be funny it was malice from the start.

Here's a prime example: Cops going 90 in a 55 with no lights or sirens on. That is against the law.

Or cops running red lights with no lights or sirens on. Also against the law.

Cops are not ABOVE the law. They merely enforce it.

@Hobz: I'm with you if only because there's a lot of stuff I would do (possibly including some food sabotage) if it could be cleared up with a fine. Money I got. What I can't afford to do is go to jail.

If he behaves, he won't do six months. I'm not shedding any tears for this prick.

@Sean Masters: It was just hair, but it could have been something else, you know.

@SarcasticDwarf: And the point of a possible prison/jail stentence for whatever crime is to discourage you from doing that crime. It's like, the whole fucking premise of our justice system.

@Kim Shannon: agreed

@mizike: Tampering with food could be very, very dangerous. This wasn't, but what if it had been some chemical? Or something someone was allergic to?

@Micromegas: Eh. It might be a little heavy, but the guy really went out of his way to do something stupid. He wasn't a victim of circumstance. If he'd simply done nothing, he wouldn't be sweating all the new things he's going to experience shortly. I have no sympathy.

Thomas Bender will spend six months in prison for tampering with a sandwich that was served to a law enforcement officer.

What is sickening is getting a mouthful of pubic hair.

@HungryTuna: I feel ya.. I didn't mean to say that I empathize with him.. only meant to say that he WILL learn a lesson in all of this.. and let's hope that he comes out wanting to improve rather than sink further..

@Hobz: Write your state legislator and convince them to change the law so that this is a ticketable offense.

Regarding the punishment, 40hrs of community service cleaning up, assisting at homeless shelters, would've been more productive. Incarcerating for this is a bit too much and way more expensive.

@Sean Masters: Maybe I'm just squimish, but I can't imagine the horror of biting down on a burger and finding a gob of a stranger's pubic hair in my mouth. After I got done puking, I would hope that someone were around to restrain me from killing the SOB that did that to me.

@Skeetz:

Does he deserve a non-janitorial job? The guy couldn't hold a fast food position without doing something morally and legally wrong.

Now imagine the shenanigans he could get into if he held a job of some importance.

Don't get me wrong.. Prison is excessive but tampering with people's food shouldn't be punished with a slap on the wrist.

Absolutely ridiculous. 2 YEARS??? For a hair? Yet drunk drivers get 3 months probation..... Gimme a break. Pfft.

Bullshit.

Jail time should always be a last resort when determining punishment. It seems as of late it's the first thing on law enforcements mind.

@HiPwr:

Let him screw with his fellow inmates,,, then he'll REALLY get taught a lesson! (a lesson thats also more or less, free for the taxpayers!)

@frank64: A real lesson? He's going to jail.. then two years probation which is like being grounded.. which my girlfriend does to me which SUCKS.. getting a job once he leaves the slam will likely wind up being janitorial because his references from big carl about being a good bitch probably won't hold water.. oh he's learned.. he's learned a lot.. on the other hand we might have created more of deadbeat than taught him civility..

@SarcasticDwarf: Erm...isn't that the POINT of sending people to jail? To send them a message? And isn't the POINT of a possible jail sentence to send people a message to discourage them not to do it?! I mean, that's kind of the point of our entire justice system!

Six months is a bit much, imo, but still.

I hope he doesn't work in the kitchen at the jail.

I am sure the type of person who does this does many things that aren't real civilized in his life. Let him have a real lesson.

This is a good step to take. Maybe it will send a good message to the rest of the workers.

I think that should have been large fine...probation, and maybe a week in the Police Station jail....or community service.

I donno if i agree with this, i know many people that like to go down onto wendys and eat her fur burger.