The New York Police Department found no criminality after officers became sick Monday night from shakes they got at a Shake Shack in downtown Manhattan, Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison tweeted early Tuesday. Sources told CBS New York it appears the incident was accidental, possibly the result of cleaning solution that wasn’t properly removed from the shake machine.
Harrison tweeted that, “After a thorough investigation by the NYPD’s Manhattan South investigators, it has been determined that there was no criminality by Shake Shack’s employees.”
Police – and the police union — initially suspected an employee may have contaminated the shakes with bleach.
The officers were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where they were treated and released. A shake sample was taken to a lab for testing, police said.
The Police Benevolent Association said the officers were assigned to a protest detail. There have been numerous racial justice demonstrations in the area since the George Floyd’s death – some marred by clashes with police.
Before word came down that no foul play by Shake Shack employees was discovered, the PBA was quick to express its outrage over the incident on Twitter:
Also before the determination that none of its workers was implicated, Shake Shack tweeted that it was “horrified”:
Later, the company said:
