Produce recalled after feces found

By Warren King and Ashley Bach
Seattle Times staff reporters

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A 23-year-old homeless man was arrested early yesterday as a possible suspect in the incident at the Evergreen Village Safeway Store, 1645 140th Ave. N.E., according to the Bellevue Police Department.

The man was arrested at Bellevue's Highland Park, across the street from the grocery, and was under investigation for malicious mischief and violation of park rules, police said.

A spokeswoman for Safeway, Cherie Myers, said that at about 10:15 p.m. Sunday, the man told a store employee there was "an odor in the produce department."

The feces, believed to be human, were then found on some produce and police were called.

Police said the man was arrested because store employees said he had fecal matter on his body and still had the contamination when he was found in the park.

Myers said the produce department was closed after the discovery and the entire store was shut from midnight to 6 a.m. for cleanup.

All of the produce was discarded, and the department was scrubbed with soap and water and rinsed with bleach water, she said.

Safeway estimated the produce was worth about $35,000.

Customers who purchased produce between 7:30 and 11 p.m. Sunday can return the products for a refund, Myers said.

Police asked that items that have suspected fecal matter be placed in a sealed plastic bag and returned to the store.
 
Public Health — Seattle & King County also investigated the incident and found that the store had taken appropriate measures to sanitize the produce department, said Hilary Karasz-Dominguez, of the health department.

Karasz-Dominguez stressed that no one should try to wash and salvage any produce purchased during the indicated hours; it should be tossed out or returned for a refund, she said.

She also said vegetables should always be washed before eating.

"You never know what's on them ... . You don't know if everyone who has handled them has washed their hands," Karasz-Dominguez said.

Warren King: 206-464-2247 or wking@seattletimes.com

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com