Hairy Situation: Cook Admits Sabotaging Police Officers Food As Paybacks

 It's The Big Payback

An Evesham policeman who found body hair in his bagel sandwich last year has sued the deli where he bought it and the cook who admitted sabotaging it as payback for a previous run-in with the officer. Jeremy Merck, 30, a six-year veteran of the department, alleged in the suit that Good Foods to Go was negligent for failing to keep its premises safe and for failing to properly examine the sandwich that Ryan J. Burke served him on Feb. 20, 2010.
The Marlton deli also failed to properly hire, train, and supervise its employees, the suit alleges.
Burke confessed to police on the day of the incident that he put hair from his chest and pubic area in Merck's egg, turkey, and cheese sandwich in retaliation for a 2009 traffic arrest by the officer, according to records.
The New Jersey State Police lab found the hairs contained Burke's DNA.
Mount Holly attorney Bruce Zamost, who represents Merck, said customers are protected by a state law that makes restaurants liable for serving contaminated food.
   If someone is served contaminated food, then they are entitled to a civil remedy against the restaurant," Zamost said. "It doesn't matter whether the restaurant was clean or not clean. It doesn't matter whether the restaurant was negligent in performing its duties."
The amended suit, filed last month in Burlington County Superior Court, seeks unspecified damages.

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