Oregon Deli Worker Spiked Bean Dip With Meth Before Sharing It With Co-Workers
Only employees ate the drugged dip.
Marion County Sheriff's Office A worker at a Thriftway grocery store in Oregon got more than she expected when she stopped by the deli section to grab some lunch. An unnamed victim told police that she stopped by the deli department to find something to eat and discovered fellow employee Cassandra Medina-Hernandez serving up some bean dip. She tasted it and eventually took some home for later. When she started to feel sick, her mother, who is an assistant manager at the store, took her to the hospital where doctors discovered she had unwittingly ingested methamphetamine. Medina-Hernandez had spiked the bean dip with drugs for herself and another employee.
Now Medina-Hernandez is under arrest. Who is Cassandra Medina-Hernandez? Read on for all the details.
1. Mixing a special recipe
According to police who reviewed the surveillance footage from the deli section of the store, Medina-Hernandez had her back to the camera as she removed something from inside her bra. She then went behind a microwave, leaned down and wiped her nose when she stood up. She then got a small paper dish, turned her back to the camera again, and placed bean dip in the dish. Oregon Live reports that police say the item she retrieved from her bra also appeared to be on the plate. After mixing up her special dish, she intended to serve it to herself and another employee.
2. Just wanted a quick lunch
Another store employee went to the deli looking for something to eat for lunch. She saw that Medina-Hernandez made the dip and asked for some. A police affidavit says she “thought one of the bites she ate tasted odd, but she did not think anything of it." She then packed up some more to take home for later. When she returned to work, she noticed that her stomach felt upset and she was unsteady on her feet, but she had never taken meth before and didn't realize that the symptoms indicated she had ingested the drug.
She spiked the dip with drugs.
3. Emergency room visit
Later that night, police received a call from a local hospital. The worker who had taken the tainted food home was in the emergency room suffering from what staff realized was a reaction to meth. The employee's mother, who is is an assistant manager at the store, figured out how her daughter had been dosed with meth and told the cops the story. "The victim, an employee at Jefferson Thriftway on Old Pacific Highway in Jefferson, told deputies she was at work and began feeling ill after eating bean dip she received from another employee who was working in the deli," the Sherriff's Office [to KVAL]. "
"After being treated at an area hospital, the victim learned the bean dip may have contained methamphetamine. During the investigation that followed, deputies were able to determine at least one other employee had consumed bean dip from the same dish that was believed to have been contaminated."
4. Confession from another employee
When the victim's mother tried to figure out what was going on, another store employee spilled the bean dip on Medina-Hernandez. That employee, who has not been named, told the manager that Medina-Hernandez and the third worker who ate the dip intentionally put meth in her daughter’s food, according to Oregon Live. The other employee who ate the dip copped to what had happened as well, texting the assistant manager and explaining the meth in the sick worker’s food was an accident, according to a police affidavit. The employee said she didn’t want to get Medina-Hernandez in trouble and said she understood that the meth-laced dip was meant for Medina-Hernandez and another employee, not for anyone else in the store or for customers.
The dip wasn't meant to be shared.
5. Prior meth convictions
This isn't the first time that Medina-Hernandez has landed in legal trouble due to her dependence on methamphetamine. The Smoking Gun website notes that she has prior convictions for robbery, identity theft, delivery of methamphetamine, theft, possession of methamphetamine and felon in possession of a restricted weapon. In a past case, the sentencing judge found her to be “an alcoholic or drug-dependent person” and ordered her to be put in a treatment program.
6. Still in jail
Medina-Hernandez has allegedly confessed to her role in the meth-dip situation and is charged with suspicion of delivery of methamphetamine and causing another person to ingest a controlled substance. She has remained in jail on $50,000 bail, the New York Post reports.
Police assure the public that there is no evidence that any meth made it into food that was sold to customers.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.