Kevin Trejo Westwood Starbucks NJ employee arrested after bragging about spitting in cops’ coffee drinks at Park Ridge location. Worker is fired.
A New Jersey Starbucks employee has been arrested after bragging about spitting in drinks served to cops.
Kevin Trejo, 21, of Westwood who worked at NJ’s Park Ridge location was arrested and booked on Monday with subjecting a law enforcement officer to contact with a bodily fluid, tampering with a cup of coffee knowing it was ordered by an officer and for creating a hazardous condition, NJ.com reported.
Trejo allegedly spat in the drinks and was ‘arrogant enough to be bragging about it,’ which led cops to question him, Chief Joseph Madden told the outlet, calling the actions ‘very disturbing.’
Bodily fluids like saliva are a primary way people can contract the coronavirus, experts have said amid the ongoing health pandemic.
The barista has since been fired, with Starbucks cooperating with the investigation. No other workers were involved.
‘Every time I think we as society hit bottom, there is a new incident,’ New Jersey Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Colligan posted on Twitter.
‘Officers risk their lives daily, it shouldn’t be while getting coffee.’
Officers who may have received the tainted drinks will be tested for the coronavirus.
Authorities fear Trejo may have spat into numerous drinks over a period of time, but it’s not clear how many.
‘This particular individual’s behavior was reprehensible,’ Reggie Borges, a spokesperson for Starbucks, told the nydailynews. ‘As soon as we learned of what took place, we moved quickly to investigate, and can now confirm this individual is no longer a Starbucks employee.’
He added that the outlet ‘apologized to the Park Ridge Police department,’ and insists that ‘everyone who comes into our stores should receive a positive experience and when that doesn’t occur, we move quickly to address it and hold ourselves accountable.’
Not immediately clear is what led to the fired worker spitting into cops’ drinks.
