Coronavirus Prank At Grocery Store Gets Houston Teen Charged With Tampering

A Houston-area teen is the latest to face charges for pulling a prank that played on coronavirus anxieties.

According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, a 14-year-old boy now faces charges of tampering with consumer products after he was spotted coughing on produce in an Aldine-area grocery store.

“Folks let’s keep it together,” Gonzalez said in a Facebook post. “It appears a 14-year-old teen male intentionally coughed on produce… Apparently it was a prank. Not a very funny one. The teen was charged with Tampering with Consumer Products.”

Texas reported 2,552 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Sunday when over 500 new cases were added to the total. Roughly half of the second-largest state’s 254 counties have reported at least one. From these cases, there have been a total of 34 reported deaths.

In Harris County, records show 445 confirmed cases as of Sunday, a steep 94% increase from the only the previous day, with only one death reported so far. By comparison, cases in Dallas County increased only 20% over the same period.

Police throughout the country have cracked down on antics and pranks preying on coronavirus anxieties. Last week a 50-year-old New Jersey man was arrested for harassment and making terroristic threats after intentionally coughing on employees at a grocery store.