‘No criminality’ by Shake Shack workers after union said cops were poisoned, police say

After a police union said several New York Police Department officers were poisoned by what was believed to be bleach in their Shake Shack milkshakes, investigators now say there was no foul play by employees.

The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, which represents more than 24,000 NYPD officers, shared a statement on Twitter Monday night saying that officers fell ill and were hospitalized after dining at a lower Manhattan Shake Shack.

“At some point during their meal period, (officers) discovered that a toxic substance, believed to be bleach, had been placed in their beverages,” the statement said.

A sample of the the milkshake was sent to a lab for testing, police said, CBS News reported. The officers have since been released from the hospital, according to the outlet.

During the investigation, Shake Shack also shared a statement to Twitter.

“We are horrified by the reports of police officers injured at our 200 Broadway Shack in Manhattan,” it said. “We are working with the police in their investigation right now.”

But on Tuesday morning, NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison tweeted that investigators had found “no criminality by Shake Shack’s employees.”

“Our team is working hard to get the full picture,” Shake Shack tweeted following the news. “In the meantime, we’re relieved to hear the officers are all okay.”

Investigators believe a solution used to clean the shake machine may not have been fully removed and could have gotten into the milkshakes served to the officers, CNN reported.

The officers had been assigned to a protest detail following the death of George Floyd, the police union said, according to CBS.

George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed Black man, died while in police custody on May 25 and his death sparked an avalanche of protests across the nation. He died after now-fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, as three other officers didn’t intervene. The officers have since been fired and charged in Floyd’s death.

This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 9:35 AM with the headline "‘No criminality’ by Shake Shack workers after union said cops were poisoned, police say."