Tampa, Fla. Police are investigating an incident where a family of four was hospitalized after eating meat laced with LSD. The bottom round steak was purchased as a local Walmart, reports Bay News 9, a local news station.
Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor said during a news conference on Thursday that the family, including a pregnant mother, her two children and her boyfriend, started experiencing hallucinations, dizziness, rapid heart rates and difficulty breathing shortly after dinner.
The family has been released from the hospital. The woman, 31-year-old Jessica Rosado, was induced after she began feeling ill. She and her baby son were released a day after the rest of the family.
The Walmart manager said that it’s unclear when and where the meat was tampered with, but all the remaining bottom round steaks were pulled from shelves as a precaution. Police are investigating the meat and the family’s oven to determine if a crime has occurred.
"We have no information to indicate this is anything other than an isolated case," said Castor during the news conference.
Walmart spokesman Dianna Gee released the following statement:
"Like everyone else in the community, we are deeply disturbed about this situation and are taking it very seriously. We want answers and we’re committed to working with officials to get to the bottom of this.
We know our customers expect safe, quality food and we require our suppliers to meet the highest of food safety standards.
It’s unclear where and how the food was tampered with or if the tampering occurred after purchase. However, out of an abundance of caution, we have pulled the remaining product from the store.
We have been in touch with our supplier and they tell us they have no reports of similar incidents.
We are reviewing our store’s surveillance video to see if we can find any information that might assist in the investigation. At this point, we’re not aware of any suspicious activity.”
Source: Bay News 9
