A former McDonald’s manager in Massachusetts is facing a felony charge after police say she intentionally contaminated an order of French fries and handed them to her ex-girlfriend through the drive-thru.
Kaylie M. Santos, 22, of Southbridge, has been charged with distributing food with a harmful substance. She is expected to be arraigned June 5 in Dudley District Court, according to court records.
The disturbing case began on May 7, when Southbridge police became aware of a video posted to the Southbridge First Facebook page. The clip, which police said appeared to have originally been recorded on Snapchat, allegedly showed a McDonald’s manager tampering with food before serving it to a customer.
According to investigators, the video showed Santos inside the kitchen area of the Southbridge McDonald’s saying, “When your girlfriend wants french fries today right… she wants french fries today right,” before grabbing fries, putting them in her mouth, and placing them into a fry carton.
At the end of the video, another voice could allegedly be heard saying, “dirty bitch.”
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
Police said officers who were already familiar with Santos from prior interactions identified her in the footage.
Detective Sgt. Evan Genkos later reviewed surveillance video from inside the restaurant with McDonald’s ownership and management. Investigators said the restaurant team spent more than 220 hours going through footage to locate the exact incident.
According to the police report, surveillance footage from April 9 showed Santos, who allegedly worked as a night manager, preparing a drive-thru order alongside another employee.
Police said Santos appeared to spit into an empty fry carton before wiping her lips with her hand as both employees laughed. She then allegedly recorded a selfie video while placing fries into her mouth and then into the same carton.
Investigators said Santos then handed the bag to a customer at the drive-thru window.
Surveillance from the drive-thru allegedly showed a gray Ford Fusion at the window around 10:21 p.m. Police later traced the vehicle registration to Haily Coburn, who confirmed she was the customer who received the fries.
Coburn told investigators she and Santos had dated for about two years before breaking up in October 2024. She also alleged that Santos had been harassing her and her new partner after learning Coburn was dating someone else.
According to police, Coburn said she only ordered two Dr Pepper soft drinks that night but was unexpectedly handed fries along with the drinks. She said she ate the fries without knowing anything was wrong.
“Haily stated it wasn’t until she saw the Snapchat video online of what Santos did to the fries she had handed to her,” Genkos wrote in the report.
Police said Coburn told investigators she wanted to pursue criminal charges.
Investigators believe the alleged food tampering was targeted specifically at Coburn. Police said they do not believe any other customers were affected.
A no-trespass order was issued against Santos and served on May 12, according to the report.
The Southbridge Police Department said the investigation has now concluded.
“As a result of the investigation, a 22-year-old female employee from Southbridge, MA, will be charged with one felony count of selling or distributing food with a foreign substance,” the department said in a statement.
Police also praised the Southbridge McDonald’s ownership and management for helping with the case.
“The Southbridge Police Department would also like to acknowledge the exceptional cooperation provided by the ownership and management of the Southbridge McDonald’s throughout the course of this investigation,” the statement said. “Their assistance and professionalism were instrumental in bringing this matter to a conclusion.”
The Sellia Group, which owns the Southbridge McDonald’s, said the employees involved were suspended immediately after the company learned of the incident and were later fired following an internal investigation.
“The actions of these individuals are unacceptable and do not reflect our organization’s food safety standards or values,” the Spadea & Balducci Family, the Southbridge owners/operators, said in a statement.
“We conducted an internal review, and they are no longer employed by our organization. We are proactively working with local authorities and the local health department, who found no public health concerns or violations.”
“The wellbeing and safety of our Southbridge community remains our top priority,” the statement added.
Santos is not currently in custody, according to reports. If convicted, she could face up to five years behind bars.
Criminal activity by sicko homosexics and trans getting more and more common…
More proof that the pride crowd got to be the pride crowd through mental illness, pretty much like Democrats got to be Democrats. But I repeat myself.