Texas teen charged with felony for spitting in Arizona tea bottle then returning it to supermarket shelf

Police said the offense is "something we take very seriously."

ByLeah La Rosa
July 18, 2019, 12:41 PM

A 15-year-old boy in Odessa, Texas, was arrested and charged after he was caught on supermarket surveillance footage spitting into an Arizona tea bottle then putting it back on the shelf.

Odessa police were dispatched Monday to Albertsons, a supermarket in Odessa, after a store employee witnessed the act, according to police Corporal Steve LeSueur.

In this July, 17, 2012, file photo, customers leave an Albertsons grocery store with their purchases.
Fred Prouser/Reuters, FILE

An officer reviewed the store footage, where the boy was seen taking a drink of the Arizona tea bottle before putting it back.

The boy admitted to both store employees and police that he had spit in the drink and put it back.

"It was gross," the boy told police when explaining his rationale.

In this file photo, bottles of drinks are shown for sale in a grocery store.
Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, FILE

Gross or not, the offense is a second degree felony in the state of Texas. LeSueur said this is "something we take very seriously."

The 15-year-old was sent to be held at the Ector County Youth Center. He has been charged with tampering with a consumer product.