9 Investigates: Treats possibly laced with drugs given out at north Charlotte restaurant

CHARLOTTE — A takeout order from a Red Robin restaurant in north Charlotte provided a Channel 9 employee with more than he bargained for. He ordered pizzas for his family Wednesday night from the Kenbrooke Drive location and an interesting discovery came along with them.

“Flabbergasted,” he said. “At the bottom of the bag, I thought, Oh that’s interesting, perhaps it is gluten free.”

He and his family found two snack bars that look like Rice Krispies Treats with cereal inside. He viewed it as a possible treat for son who has Celiac disease. But when they looked closer at the business card that came with them, they realized they may not be ordinary treats.

“I thought there is absolutely no way this is going to happen,” he said. “There’s no way someone would put something like this at the bottom of the bag when you are picking up dinner from a Red Robin.”

Included in the bag was a business card advertising Kellz Sweet Treets: The Incredible Edibles. The business card links to a Twitter account, @KellzSweetTreet.

After Channel 9′s investigation aired, the Twitter account was deleted.

The most recent menu tweeted was on June 3, advertising Captain Crunch and Fruit Loops Euphoreos, which look like the treats that were in the bag. Both are listed as “300 mg.”

Another video on Twitter shows another Fruit Loop bar that looks like the one included in the bag. The account also posted a video showing what they are calling “infused Sour Patch Kids.”

One person said they felt “out of their body” and their roommate thought they were “tweakin.” Another person said they “couldn’t walk straight” when asked how the brownies were.

It’s unclear if the company is still in business. The last tweet on June 8 said “going out of business soon.”

This Channel 9 employee decided to see if it would happen again. He ordered salads about 90 minutes later and when he went to pick them up, he had his phone on. The video shows a Red Robin employee exit the restaurant with the food and inside the bag he found another treat and another business card.

Reporter Joe Bruno gave a call to the phone number listed on the card but was sent to voicemail after two rings. A text message to the number also went unreturned.

A manager of the Red Robin told Bruno he would refer him to legal. Red Robin responded Friday to an email from Channel 9, saying the employee involved had been fired.

It is unclear what, if anything, is in the treats or how they got in the bag. The Channel 9 employee who came forward is happy his son didn’t eat them.

“If a child were to get a hold of this that would be a concern as a parent,” he said. “You don’t know what is in it and if there is something in it, you don’t know if it is harmful to the child.”

Two different Channel 9 employees ordered lunch from Red Robin Thursday morning to see if anything extra would be included, but they only got what they ordered.

Full statement from Red Robin:

“Thank you for making us aware of this matter. We addressed internally and put an immediate stop to it. This was not done with our knowledge and the team member involved is no longer employed by us.”

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