3 NYPD cops hospitalized after complaining of bleach taste in milkshakes
Three NYPD cops were hospitalized Monday night after drinking milkshakes from a Lower Manhattan Shake Shack that they believe may have been spiked with bleach, law enforcement sources said.
The officers immediately noticed a funny taste when they sipped the drinks from the chain’s location on Broadway near Fulton Street shortly after 9 p.m., the sources said.
They were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where they were reported to be alert.
All three are assigned to the 42nd Precinct in The Bronx, but were on a detail in Manhattan at the time.
The NYPD’s Crime Scene Unit launched an immediate investigation at the restaurant.
A witness, John Goldman, 23, said he was surprised to see police cars outside the restaurant in the usually “very quiet” neighborhood.
“Cops were looking through trash cans and we thought maybe someone stashed something in there,” Goldman said.
Investigators recovered two of the cups that the officers threw out after attempting to drink the shakes, the sources said.
An officer was seen standing guard over one of the empty cups next to an outdoor trash bin. The other recovered cup was half-full.
Shake Shack responded in a tweet, saying they “are horrified by the reports of police officers injured at our 200 Broadway Shack in Manhattan. We are working with the police in their investigation right now.”