Taco Bell order tainted by rat poison sends customer to hospital, authorities say

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. (TND) — An investigation is reportedly underway after a Taco Bell customer in Colorado was allegedly poisoned by his order and sent to the hospital.

The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office is looking into how rat poison ended up in the man's burritos, CBS Colorado reports. The case is reportedly categorized as "criminal attempt homicide."

Right now what we're looking at is if the rat poison was actually put into his food at the restaurant. We don't know if it was, at this point in time," Sheriff Deputy John Bartmann reportedly said.

According to Deputy Bartmann and the manager of the Taco Bell in question, the customer originally came into the fast food restaurant on Sunday around 1 p.m. and began arguing with the workers there.

Lary Swift, the store's manager, says the man was upset that the restaurant's drink station wasn't working properly, CBS Colorado says. Swift claims that the man "wanted something free" for his troubles.

The customer reportedly has a history of causing "problems" at the Taco Bell location and, on one occasion, threw a taco at an employee, according to Swift.

On Sunday, the man ordered three bean burritos and was given a fourth burrito for free, the store's manager recalls.

Deputy Bartmann says that the man later, around 7 p.m. that same day, "became violently ill" and called 911. The man was reportedly then taken to an area hospital. The hospital later reported that it had a patient in its care that "possibly consumed rat poison in his food" from the same Taco Bell, according to Bartmann.

So much rat poison was found in the burritos that "it would have been very serious to our victim's health," Deputy Bartmann told CBS Colorado.

Deputies later said they investigated the food and found "that had a greenish-gray substance in some of the food," according to TODAY.com.

The Taco Bell location in question was closed by police on Sunday night, according to Swift, who reportedly said that officers came to the location insisting it had "poisoned somebody."

We don't carry poison in the restaurant," Swift told CBS Colorado. "We didn't do anything like that. It didn't even add up. It's ridiculous."

Swift claims her Taco Bell restaurant has turned over surveillance video to the sheriff's department. Bartmann told TODAY.com that local health and environmental departments were also contacted about the incident.

Store employees reportedly had to dispose of all food at the location before it was allowed to open for business again.

Authorities have not identified the man who was allegedly poisoned. The investigation remains open and active, according to TODAY.com.

The safety of customers and team members is a priority. The franchisee who owns and operates this location has informed us that they are working with local authorities in their investigation," a spokesperson for Taco Bell reportedly told TODAY.com.