Earlier this week a Colorado man was hospitalized after he allegedly ingested a Taco Bell burrito that had been laced with rat poison. News reports claimed the man was “violently ill” after eating the burrito, and so the story quickly went viral — with numerous people speculating that someone at the popular fast food chain had intentionally tried to harm one of their customers. Now there are new developments in this bizarre and frightening case, and the story’s changing quite a bit. In fact, it’s starting to look like the entire incident was orchestrated by the alleged victim.
According to Denver News 7, police in Arapahoe County have found no evidence that anybody had access to rat poison at the Taco Bell location where the incident allegedly took place. Now that their investigation has uncovered zero evidence of any crime, the alleged victim in the incident is refusing to speak to investigators. They’ve been unable to get ahold of him or reach him by phone, and have resorted to publicly requesting that he get back in contact with them.
Over the course of the investigation, authorities in Colorado learned that the man had argued with employees at the Taco Bell while in the drive thru. The restaurant staff told police (and security footage confirmed) that the man wanted a free burrito to replace a soda, which was something they were unable to do. However, he continued arguing at the drive thru until employees gave him the burrito to appease him, and so he’d go away. It was sometime after this incident — after he had returned to his residence — that he attempted to eat the burrito. The alleged victim told police that his mouth went numb and he became gravely sick.
Since police have found no evidence of foul play, and the alleged victim in the incident is refusing to talk to police anymore, what could this mean about the entire story? Does the evidence as we know it imply that the Colorado man poisoned himself in an attempt to cause some sort of drama with the workers at Taco Bell? Or did someone in this man’s home have access to the poison and the burrito before he sat down to eat it? Hopefully authorities can get to the bottom of what actually happened if the employees at Taco Bell are in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.
Chelsea Hoffman is a true crime writer with over a decade of professional writing experience. She is best known for her coverage of missing people including the tragic disappearance of Madeleine McCann as well as the heartbreaking cases of Dylan Redwine, Heather Elvis and many others.
