Woman ordered to pay $30K to grocery story after purposely coughing on food

Margaret Ann Cirko is an American woman who thought it would be a good idea to spit and cough on $35,000 worth of food at a grocery story. Not only was she purposely doing so, she also claimed at the time of the incident that she was COVID positive.

Intentional contamination

According to witnesses, the woman yelled 'I have the virus, now you are all going to get sick' as she coughed on fruits, vegetables as well as in the meat and bakery sections. Inevitably, the supermarket in question was forced to throw out all the food in fear of contamination.

Upon being detained, it was revealed that the woman tested negative and claimed she was under the influence of large amounts of alcohol, prompting her erratic behaviour.

Still, the Luzerne County Judge upheld her charges and has since been sentenced to two years in jail, witheight years of probation once out of the slammer. In addition, Cirko will also have to pay back the damages she caused to the grocery story, which has resulted in a $30,000 fine.

Throwing away $35K worth of food

Owner of the grocery store, Joe Fasula, explained the hard decision it was for him to throw away perfectly fresh food over the fear of a possible contamination. In a post he wrote on Facebook, the store owner said:

Today was a very challenging day. While there is little doubt this woman was doing it as a very twisted prank, we will not take any chances with the health and well-being of our customers.

And added:

I am also absolutely sick to my stomach about the loss of food. While it is always a shame when food is wasted, in these times when so many people are worried about the security of our food supply, it is even more disturbing.