More food tampering incidents in South Lake Tahoe; One sent to hospital

9:00AM Update 11/22/16: The South Lake Tahoe Police Department believes the same person is responsible for recent food tampering incidents at Baja Fresh and Raley's due to similarities in the cases. The unidentified suspect is described as a white male adult, 5'7" with a thin build.

The management at Baja Fresh in the Village Center contacted SLTPD on Sunday, November 20 after reading about the Raley's incident. They reported several similar incidents during the previous two weeks, including the suspected poisoning of a 12-year-old boy on Saturday. Staff noticed a strong odor, similar to bleach, at their self-service salsa bar. The juvenile victim was hospitalized with symptoms related to food poisoning according to SLTPD Lt. Brian Williams. He has since been released.

At the time of the November 15 Raley's incident, the suspect was seen wearing a black hat, dark sunglasses, a black or dark-colored long-sleeved shirt, black backpack, blue jeans, and black-and-white shoes.

The investigation is ongoing. SLTPD is attempting to get video downloads and photos from Baja Fresh and they will release those once available.

Investigators have collected numerous food samples from both Raley’s and Baja Fresh, and the samples are undergoing testing at California Department of Justice and Department of Public Health laboratories.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department requests the public’s help in locating the suspect. Please contact the South Lake Tahoe Police Department at (530) 542-6100 or Secret Witness at (530) 541-6800 with any information regarding this case. The South Lake Tahoe Police Department is also advising citizens to be wary of open-source or self-serve food, and to report any suspicious persons or suspicious activity to the police.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department suspect more restaurants and other eating establishments may be vulnerable to similar attacks, and would like the public to be on alert for their personal safety.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the California Department of Health, and the El Dorado County Emergency Management and Public Health Division are assisting SLTPD in this investigation.

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SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - There have been a few more incidents of food tampering in South Lake Tahoe, the latest one sent a 12-year-old boy to the hospital.

On Saturday, November 19, 2016, at Baja Fresh in the Village Center at Stateline, the young man used the self-serve salsa and hot sauce bar at the restaurant, but soon after eating got violently ill and was taken to the emergency room at Barton Hospital with a case of poisoning. He has since been treated and released.

On November 15, a man was seen putting an unidentified substance on top of food in the Raley's self-serve Hot Wok at the same Village Center. The South Lake Tahoe Police released a photo of the suspect and the El Dorado County Health Department took samples to identify the substance. Even though November 15 was the first case the SLTPD was brought in on at Raley's, it was reported that the store suspected someone was tampering with food on three other occasions during the prior week.

SLTPD Lt. Brian Williams told South Tahoe Now their detectives are working overtime on this case so they can get the perpetrator off the streets, especially before a busy holiday period. Since they hope to catch the suspect soon there are some more details they aren't releasing at this time.

Williams also said that video from some of the locations has been hard to obtain due to out of town corporate owners. He hopes to get photos on Tuesday.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also assisting in the case along with detectives from the South Lake Tahoe Police Department and officials from the EDCO Health Department.

This is a developing story ...