Who is Lance Layne? DoorDash driver fired for 'prank' messing with NYPD officer's food order
BROOKLYN, NY: The former DoorDash driver who allegedly contaminated an NYPD officer's Chipotle order was apprehended on Thursday, July 15, and has now claimed it was just "a prank that went out of hand."
The NYPD confirmed that 30-year-old Lance Layne was charged with attempted assault on a police officer, tampering of consumer product, and criminal tampering. The suspect was asked if he “put something in the food" as he was being led out of a Brooklyn station house in handcuffs Thursday night. “Definitely didn’t. It was a prank,” he told reporters. “They don’t got no note, no nothing," he added.
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Who is Lance Layne?
Layne reportedly has an extensive criminal past. Cops said he was a known member of the Bloods gang and was on parole for aggravated assault of a police or peace officer after being released from prison in November 2019, the New York Post reported. Police sources told the paper that Layne was interrogated Thursday afternoon, July 15, at the 61st Precinct station house in Sheepshead Bay. It was the same station where the driver allegedly dropped off the befouled order on Monday afternoon, July 12.
The driver was seen in a video posted to Facebook opening up what appeared to be a burrito bowl and reached inside with his unprotected hands to insert a handwritten note which read: “Hope that d-k taste good bitch!," misspelling a crude reference for male genitalia.
The social media post suggested the driver held some kind of a grudge against the precinct, or at least law enforcement in general, the Post reported. “Ya kno I’m bout to violate the s–t out this order 61st precient [sic],” it was captioned. “I dreamed of moments like this … god u been so good to me like idk how to re-pay u.” The post has since been taken down. “It wasn’t no target,” he insisted to reporters Thursday night, July 15. “I got nothing against him… it was a prank. They know that.”
Chipotle called the driver's actions "inexcusable," adding they had ensured the DoorDash partner had his account deactivated. Meanwhile, DoorDash released a statement calling the behavior "unacceptable" and that it "has no place in our community." They added, “We take the trust and respect of merchants, customers, and Dashers extremely seriously. We have deactivated the Dasher, reached out to the customer involved, and stand ready to support law enforcement.” The food-delivery chain noted that "all Dashers must pass a criminal background check and motor vehicle record check prior to being approved to deliver on our platform. We also run recurring checks on active Dashers.”
Officers targetted in other incidents
MEAWW previously reported how three New York Police Department officers were admitted to the hospital in June last year after consuming milkshakes from the burger chain Shake Shack. The officers told Fox News that the shake had an "unfamiliar taste".
At the time, the president of Detective Endowment Association Board of Directors Paul DiGiacomo said in a statement that the police officers were "intentionally poisoned by one or more workers." An urgent safety message was later shared on Twitter by the Detective Endowment Association, assuring that the officers weren't "seriously harmed".
After a thorough investigation, however, the NYPD said it found no criminality by Shake Shack’s employees, Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison later revealed. However, he didn't clarify whether some sort of cleaning solution or disinfectant was found in the officers' beverages.