Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office release bodycam footage and records in Taco Bell poison case
Arapahoe County law enforcement authorities have released new bodycam video and investigative documents related to the January poisoning of a Taco Bell customer.
But the newly released evidence seems to deepen the mystery, and raises more questions about what exactly did or did not happen at the Centennial fast food restaurant, located at 16776 East Smoky Hill Road, on January 15.
According to the new materials obtained through open record requests, Bruce Detlof, 63, went to the restaurant around 1 p.m. and says he ordered his usual meal, a #2 combination.
"Its got three tacos and I upgraded to a freeze, they don't have it," Detlof told Arapahoe County Sheriff's deputies.
Deputies were called to the scene after Detlof found out the restaurant's drink machine was not working properly and store employees initially refused to give him free food to make up for the broken drink machine.
Detlof objected and got into a verbal argument with store employees and other customers.
When deputies arrived, Detlof told them, "I haven't done anything wrong."
Taco Bell employees eventually gave Detlof an extra bean burrito.
Deputies made no arrests and said no crime occurred but told Detlof employees requested him to not return.
"They're gonna get a lawsuit, I guarantee you," Detlof told Arapahoe County deputies before driving away with his food.
About seven hours later, Detloff said he was at home and began eating his food when he became violently ill and vomited.
He called 911 and was then hospitalized.
Investigative documents from the Arapahoe County Sheriff say hospital workers examined the food Detlof purchased and lab testing showed "it was rat poisoning."
A poison control center was contacted and shown photos of what was found in the tacos. A poison control expert said that "each taco had a fatal amount of rat poison," according to a report from one of the deputies.
Arapahoe County Sheriff's bodycam video shows deputies soon descending on the restaurant and closing it down that night.
"You guys are actually being shut down right now," one deputy said as he walked into the restaurant and contacted employees. "Every single employee here is being detained. Nobody is free to go. There's a poisoning issue."
A store manager later told CBS News Colorado the poisoning accusations were "ridiculous."
"We don't carry poison in the restaurant. We didn't do anything like that. It didn't even add up," the manager expresed.
But when deputies searched the inside of the restaurant, they reportedly found rat traps but without poison inside.
A search outside the restaurant showed deputies locating two rat traps, one with a large block of poison inside.
"There were marks on the poison consistent with a person 'scraping' off large chunks, not something an animal would create. Some of the poison found at Taco Bell appeared to match that found in one of the tacos," wrote one of the deputies.
Arapahoe County investigators reviewed surveillance video from inside the restaurant and says it did not show any employees tampering with Detlof's food.
Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office reports say Detlof allowed deputies to search his home where they found two bags of rat poison in his kitchen.
"One of the bags was factory sealed. The other bag of rat poison was open, but it contained small brown pellets, which were very different than the substances found in the tacos," one of the deputies wrote. "Due to the fact that some of the poison found at the Taco Bell appeared to match that found in one of the tacos, as well as all of the rat traps inside of the business being empty. It is probable that someone intentionally poisoned Bruce due to the earlier disturbance."
Digging further, the law enforcement records show Arapahoe County investigators contacted a Home Depot and Walmart near Detlof's home to see if he had purchased rat poison, but both stores say they had no records indicating he used a credit card to buy rat poison.
"I cannot prove how the rodent poison got into Bruce's food. The videos from Taco Bell show that the employees did not place the rodent poison in any of the food given to Bruce," Arapahoe County investigator Keith Thomas wrote in conclusion.
In March, the Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office closed the case saying investigators were unable to identify a suspect.
Arapahoe County administrators say Taco Bell and its employees cooperated with the investigation.
In a previous statement, Taco Bell expressed, "the safety of customers and team members is a priority."
Detlof has yet to respond to multiple messages sent from CBS News Colorado reporters.
