Woman coughs on $35K of goods at Pennsylvania grocery store in ‘very twisted prank’
A Pennsylvania woman ruined an estimated $35,000 worth of goods by intentionally coughing all over them while the coronavirus plagues nations worldwide, a grocery store alleged on Facebook.
The woman visited a Hanover Township location of the small grocery chain Gerrity’s Supermarket before 2:20 p.m. Wednesday and coughed on fresh produce, a small section of the bakery, meat case and grocery items, the store’s co-owner Joe Fasula wrote.
Authorities do not believe the woman, whose name is still unknown, is infected with COVID-19, but will “make every effort” to get her tested, Fasula wrote. The woman is also said to be a “chronic problem” in the community.
“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,” Fasula wrote.
Gerrity’s Supermarket called cops immediately, and more than 15 employees worked with the Hanover Township health inspector to thoroughly clean and disinfect the store.
“The case has been escalated to the District Attorney’s Office. They have assured me that they will be aggressively pursuing numerous charges,” Fasula said.
The Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office and Hanover Township police could not be reached by The Post.
“The only silver lining to this travesty is that it gave us the unfortunate opportunity to test our protocols and demonstrate how seriously we take your safety,” Fasula said.
Luzerne County has 27 confirmed cases of the virus with one death, according to Johns Hopkins data. There have been 1,284 confirmed cases in the entire state.
A New Jersey man who was busted Tuesday after allegedly coughing on a Wegmans employee was charged making terroristic threats, obstruction of law and harassment, according to the state’s Attorney General.
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