Three Wendy's employees in South Carolina have been arrested after police accused them of serving a customer food pulled from the trash and spitting in it—an explosive allegation that comes as another fast-food chain, Arby's, remains embroiled in a separate food tampering case tied to a customer's herpes diagnosis.
According to KNOE, authorities in Union, South Carolina, 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 following a May 31 incident at a local Wendy's. Police say the customer returned to the restaurant after finding an issue with her drive-thru order and asked for both a refund and a receipt, saying she had never received one with her original purchase.
Employees allegedly told the woman they would remake her meal before sending her on her way. But while she was eating the replacement order, she reportedly received a phone call from someone inside the restaurant warning her that an employee had spat in the food—and that the meal she had just been handed had actually been retrieved from the trash.
The customer later told investigators she realized the "new" order appeared to be the same food she had returned minutes earlier.
The customer contacted the restaurant's manager, who allegedly told her he had spoken with employees and confirmed what happened. He also said surveillance footage would be reviewed.
According to police records, both the restaurant manager and general manager initially disciplined Sanders and Rice with write-ups before the investigation escalated into criminal charges.
The arrests arrive just weeks after a separate fast-food controversy involving an Arby's restaurant in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Former manager Amanda Hendricks is facing a felony poisoning charge after investigators alleged surveillance footage captured her spitting into a customer's sandwich before it was served.
That customer, bartender Jennica Church, later sued, claiming she contracted HSV-1—the virus most commonly linked to oral herpes—after eating the contaminated food.
Church recalled thinking something felt off 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."
The alleged fallout extended beyond her 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."
