Advertisement

Detroit Tigers food services employee in custody after video showed him spitting on pizza

A food services employee at Comerica Park is in custody after a video shows him spitting on pizzas. (AP Photo)
A food services employee at Comerica Park is in custody after a video shows him spitting on pizzas. (AP Photo)

A Detroit Tigers food services employee is in police custody after a video emerged in which he spits on pizza intended for Comerica Park customers, according to WXYZ.

Video of the incident emerged Saturday, when another employee posted it on Instagram. The video shows the man spitting on pizza crust before covering up his spit with sauce. The post is still up on Instagram, but we must warn you that it’s pretty gross.

The incident occurred Friday. Representatives from Delaware North, the company that runs food services at Comerica Park, told Yahoo Sports they immediately shut down the food stand. The employee in the video has been fired.

“As soon as we became aware through social media of potential food tampering, we immediately closed that food stand, disposed of all the product and contacted the Detroit Police Department. We have been told by police that the worker has been arrested and is in custody, pending charges. Food safety is our top priority and we will take any appropriate action necessary to protect our guests. The worker involved in this matter has been terminated. We intend to pursue all legal action to the fullest extent of the law.”

The man who posted that video, another Comerica Park employee, claims his managers tried to shut him up when he told them about the employee who was spitting on pizzas. He claims they also wanted him to take the video down.

A Delaware North spokesperson told Yahoo Sports the employee who posted the video was sent home Friday due to a uniform violation. No one acting in an official work capacity asked the employee to remove the video, according to the company.

“The employee who filmed and posted the video was actually sent home from the game Friday evening on an unrelated uniform violation prior to us learning about the food tampering via the video being posted on social media. Our only subsequent communication with that employee was to let him know that he would not be working Saturday or Sunday. No one acting in an official work capacity asked him to remove the video. We referred information regarding the video to the Detroit Police Department and they have told us it is an active investigation.”

– – – – – – –

Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

More from Yahoo Sports:

Tiger’s win is the greatest comeback in sports history
White Sox star says what many think about umpire
Charles Robinson: Latest flag on Packers’ Matthews may be worst yet
Rams’ Gurley really isn’t a fan of Thursday games