Restaurant Employee Seen Spitting On Pizza Fired, Arrested After Video Goes Viral

A food service employee at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan, was arrested Sunday after a video that showed him spitting on a pizza intended for customers went viral.

The employee, identified as Jaylon Kerley, told his coworker Quinell May on Friday that he was going to spit in the food. May told reporters that he filmed the act so he could show it to the management. He further stated the worker was “mad and having a bad day” and also claimed to have done it in the past, WXYZ reported.

May said the incident took place during Friday's game against the Kansas City Royals, USA Today reported. He said his managers shut him down when he tried to tell them about the incident. "Every time I tried to talk, they told me to shut up," he said.

Dan Donakowski, a spokesman for the Detroit Police Department said the 20-year-old man was arrested Sunday and his arrest “stems from a video going around.”

Detroit Sportservice, which caters at Comerica Park said they closed the food station as soon as they learnt about the incident.

"As soon as we became aware through social media of potential food tampering, we immediately closed that food stand, disposed of all the product and contacted the Detroit Police Department. We have been told by police that the worker has been arrested and is in custody, pending charges," Detroit Sportservice said.

"Food safety is our top priority and we will take any appropriate action necessary to protect our guests. The worker involved in this matter has been terminated. We intend to pursue all legal action to the fullest extent of the law,” it added.

It further stated that Kerley was terminated and May suspended.

“The employee who filmed and posted the video was sent home from the game Friday evening on an unrelated uniform violation prior to us learning about the food tampering via the video being posted on social media. Our only subsequent communication with that employee was to let him know that he would not be working Saturday or Sunday. No one acting in an official work capacity asked him to remove the video. We referred information regarding the video to the Detroit Police Department and they have told us it is an active investigation,” Detroit Sportservice said.

In a similar incident in March, a Pita Pit employee in Missoula, Montana was terminated after a video showed her spitting on a customer’s sandwich. It showed some customers “daring” the employee to “do it” moments before she spits in the sandwich she is making.

The person who uploaded the video alleged the confrontation started because “this racist employee spit in our food because apparently she was having a bad day and didn’t wanna[sic] be at work!” Fox News reported. The owners issued an apology to their customers post the incident.