Wendy’s Employees Arrested After Serving Customer Food from Trash and Spitting in It

Three Wendy’s employees in South Carolina have been arrested after police say a customer was served food that had been pulled from the trash — and allegedly spat in before it was handed back to her.

The disturbing accusations stem from a May 31 incident at a Wendy’s in Union, South Carolina, where a woman reportedly returned to the restaurant after noticing a problem with her drive-thru order.

According to KNOE, the customer asked for a refund and a receipt, telling workers she had not received one when she first placed the order.

Instead, employees allegedly told her they would remake the meal.

But after the woman drove away and began eating the replacement order, she reportedly got a shocking phone call from someone inside the restaurant.

The caller allegedly warned her that an employee had spit in the food — and that the meal she had just been given had actually been taken out of the trash.

The customer later told investigators she realized the “new” order looked like the same food she had returned just minutes earlier.

Police have since charged 23-year-old Aaliyah Shuntai Sanders, 19-year-old Trinity Lashell Rice and 33-year-old Shadela Crystal Holley with tampering with a human drug product or food item.

The customer reportedly contacted the restaurant manager after the alleged incident. According to police records, the manager told her he had spoken with employees and confirmed what happened. He also said surveillance footage would be reviewed.

Authorities said both the restaurant manager and general manager initially disciplined Sanders and Rice with write-ups before the case escalated into criminal charges.

The Wendy’s arrests come as another fast-food chain is dealing with its own shocking food-tampering scandal.

In Broken Bow, Oklahoma, former Arby’s manager Amanda Hendricks is facing a felony poisoning charge after investigators alleged surveillance footage showed her spitting into a customer’s sandwich before it was served.

That customer, bartender Jennica Church, later filed a lawsuit claiming she contracted HSV-1, the virus commonly associated with oral herpes, after eating the contaminated food.

Church said she became suspicious while waiting for her late-night order.

“It was taking a little bit of time,” she said. “I thought they were mad at me because it was about to close.”

Her family says the alleged incident has had an emotional impact far beyond the diagnosis.

“My son was sitting at my table, eating breakfast, and he wanted a kiss, and he could not get one, so you bet I’m angry,” her mother-in-law, Patricia Dollarhite, told KJRH. “I see what it’s doing to my grandchildren, my son, my husband.”