Pinellas County Sheriff's Office/ABC Action NewsA woman in Florida was arrested for allegedly ruining $2,000 worth of food products by urinating into an ice cream machine in a rival store.
Jung Soon Wypcha, 66, was arrested on Monday (July 8) and charged with criminal mischief and tampering with consumer products after allegedly forcing a shop to close for days by spitting, urinating, and picking her nose into the ice cream.
The 66-year-old was arrested after police reviewed CCTV footage showing her rampage at Lu Lu’s Ice Cream Shop in Indian Shores.
Wypcha, who runs Indian Shores Food Mart next door to the ice cream shop and shares a bathroom with the business, is said to have carried out the acts across three different days.
According to the arrest affidavit, as per the Tampa Bay Times, the 66-year-old used the shared bathroom five times on June 17, each time with the door ajar and each time without washing her hands.
After each occasion, the CCTV footage showed Wypcha walking to the organic ice cream freezer and putting her hands into multiple ice cream containers.
Later that same day, cameras caught her picking her nose before putting her hands in the ice cream. She then allegedly spat into the food containers.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s OfficeOne day later, on June 18, video footage showed Wypcha attempting to open an ice cream freezer but she failed to do so.
Then, on June 22, she went to use the shared bathroom but found the door locked and so urinated in a bucket used to churn the ice cream. She then dumped the bucket in a sink where ice cream utensils and bowls are washed, before later putting her hands in the freezer again.
Wypcha was released on Monday night in lieu of bail, set at $5,000 for the criminal mischief charge and $50,000 for the tampering charge. Both charges are felonies.
The owner of Lu Lu’s Ice Cream Shop, Paul Chiulli, said he was forced to close the store for four to five days, with the ice cream being destroyed for public safety.
Chiulli told ABC Action News:
Stuff like this can ruin our business and can ruin our lives.
PixabayChiulli believes the dispute may have started over the ice cream shop’s growing popularity and arguments over parking spaces in the car park the two businesses share.
He explained how he and wife Beth wouldn’t let the crime impact their livelihood:
We’re the type of people that brush ourselves off and pick ourselves up and we’ll go back to doing what we do best – serving good ice cream to the community.
The store owner says the entire shop has now been restocked with fresh products, with the access to the back room and bathroom now cut off as well.
He is hoping the store will be opened to the public today (July 10).
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).