Police look for victims after man charged with food tampering at Johnson County steakhouse

Prosecutors have charged a 21-year-old Kansas City man with adulterating food at the Hereford House restaurant in Leawood and are asking customers who fell ill after eating there to come forward, according to a news release from the district attorney’s office.

The Johnson County District Attorney charged Jace Christian Hanson on Friday with a felony count of unlawfully adulterating or contaminating food at the Hereford House restaurant at 5001 Town Center Drive in Leawood’s Town Center Plaza.

The alleged crime is said to have occurred between March 26 and April 25, and the district attorney’s office and police asked customers who fell ill after eating at the restaurant during that period to contact the Leawood police at tips@leawood.org or 913-266-0696.

Prosecutors have not said what Hanson was allegedly doing to contaminate the food.

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, the restaurant said the safety of customers and staff is “paramount to all of us at the Hereford House.”

“The individual who was arrested was a part-time employee who worked at the restaurant for less than a month,” the restaurant said. “Once authorities arrested the individual on April 25 ^th , we immediately took all measures and steps to thoroughly clean and sanitize the kitchen in accordance with health department guidelines.”

The restaurant said it was cooperating with authorities and referred further questions to the police and prosecutors.

A law enforcement agency contacted Leawood police on Thursday to pass on a tip about possible intentional food contamination that was believed to be taking place at a Leawood restaurant, Capt. Brad Robbins, with the Leawood Police Department, said in a press release.

The department’s investigative unit investigated the tip, leading them to the Hereford House. Detectives spoke with the restaurant’s manager, who helped identify a suspect.

Leawood police arrested Hanson shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday. He was booked into Johnson County jail, where he is currently held on a $100,000 bond.

The conditions of his release on bond include no use of illegal drugs or controlled substances and no alcohol or firearms. He is not allowed to contact victims and witnesses or their homes and places of employment.

Hanson is also “not allowed to work or any place which serves food,” according to court documents.

The investigation is ongoing.