A police officer has been injured after biting into a sandwich that contained a razor blade in New York City in what police have since called an accident.
The incident occurred on Thursday, Dec. 5 at a Bon Appetit Special Food Store in Belle Harbor, Queens.
The officer, who works for the New York Police Department’s Strategic Response Group, was dressed in plain clothes when he entered the establishment and ordered the sandwich.
As he took a bite of his food he felt a sharp pain in his mouth only to discover that he had chomped down on a razor blade that was located in the sandwich, according to ABC News'New York City station WABC.
The officer was taken to hospital, treated and released.
New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea initially tweeted that the NYPD would investigate the incident and that violence against New York City police officers would not be tolerated.
“The NYPD has ZERO tolerance for acts of violence against our police officers. A sandwich bought at a Queens deli on Thurs. contained a razor blade that cut the inside of a @NYPDCT cop’s mouth. He’ll be OK, but a full investigation into this abhorrent act is underway,” said his initial tweet addressing the razor blade incident.
But after an investigation, the NYPD deemed that the razor blade incident was, in fact, an accident.
After a thorough investigation by @NYPDDetectives its been determined that the razor incident was indeed an accident-thankfully our officer or another customer wasn’t seriously injured. Appropriate agencies have been notified for follow up to ensure this never happens again. https://t.co/4Q42fUlQcR
— Commissioner Shea (@NYPDShea) December 7, 2019
"After a thorough investigation by NYPD Detectives, it's been determined that the razor incident was indeed an accident," Shea said on Twitter. "Thankfully, our officer or another customer wasn't seriously injured. Appropriate agencies have been notified for follow up to ensure this never happens again."
Bon Appetit issued a statement apologizing to the officer and said that they are undertaking an internal investigation to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.
"First, we would like to extend our deepest apologies to the officer involved in this unfortunate incident,” the statement read. “We use a variety of tools to prepare our food, but none should ever be found in any food item meant for customer consumption … In over 10 years of management in this location, we have never had an incident like this and look forward to providing the highest quality service to all of our customers in the future."
Nobody has been charged in the incident.
