- Jan 7, 2002
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Mother, Son Accused Of Planting Mouse In Soup
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- A woman who claimed she found a mouse in her soup during an early Mother's Day lunch was accused with her son Tuesday of planting the mouse and attempting to extort money from a national restaurant chain.
Carla Patterson, 36, and Ricky Patterson, 20, both of Hampton, were charged Tuesday with attempted extortion and conspiracy to commit a felony after they tried to get Cracker Barrel to give them money in the hoax, said Howard Gwynn, Newport News' commonwealth's attorney.
On May 8, the day before Mother's Day, Patterson claimed she had already eaten some of her vegetable soup at the Newport News restaurant when she scooped up the small mouse.
The discovery prompted the 500-store chain to immediately halt the serving of vegetable soup nationally.
But a company investigation discovered that the mouse did not originate from the Cracker Barrel kitchen.
"We learned that the mouse died from a fractured skull before it entered the soup," Cracker Barrel spokeswoman Julie Davis said. In addition, the animal had no soup in its lungs, nor had it been cooked -- signs it had been dropped in the soup after its death, she said.
The company took its suspicions to Gwynn's office last week.
"The way that the food was handled, the actions of Ms. Patterson and her son raised some questions," Gwynn said. An investigation by his office led to their arrests, he said.
Patterson and her son had been in discussions with Cracker Barrel and ultimately sought "a large sum of money" from the company in exchange for photographs of the mouse and an admission her son had planted it, Cracker Barrel said in a statement issued from its Lebanon, Tenn., headquarters. Davis said the Pattersons sought $500,000.
After Patterson pulled the mouse from her soup, "The general manager came onto the floor and Ms. Patterson was against the fire door wimpering, I guess," Davis said. "We took care of her because you take care of your guests."
Davis said reports of the mouse in the soup made Cracker Barrel the brunt of jokes on late-night television. But she said the incident was especially hard on the 45 workers at the Newport News store because of the decline in business.
"The impact on the Newport News store is very substantial," Davis said. "We had people who did lose money, lots of money."
The Pattersons' arrests Tuesday also signaled the return of vegetable soup, Davis said.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- A woman who claimed she found a mouse in her soup during an early Mother's Day lunch was accused with her son Tuesday of planting the mouse and attempting to extort money from a national restaurant chain.
Carla Patterson, 36, and Ricky Patterson, 20, both of Hampton, were charged Tuesday with attempted extortion and conspiracy to commit a felony after they tried to get Cracker Barrel to give them money in the hoax, said Howard Gwynn, Newport News' commonwealth's attorney.
On May 8, the day before Mother's Day, Patterson claimed she had already eaten some of her vegetable soup at the Newport News restaurant when she scooped up the small mouse.
The discovery prompted the 500-store chain to immediately halt the serving of vegetable soup nationally.
But a company investigation discovered that the mouse did not originate from the Cracker Barrel kitchen.
"We learned that the mouse died from a fractured skull before it entered the soup," Cracker Barrel spokeswoman Julie Davis said. In addition, the animal had no soup in its lungs, nor had it been cooked -- signs it had been dropped in the soup after its death, she said.
The company took its suspicions to Gwynn's office last week.
"The way that the food was handled, the actions of Ms. Patterson and her son raised some questions," Gwynn said. An investigation by his office led to their arrests, he said.
Patterson and her son had been in discussions with Cracker Barrel and ultimately sought "a large sum of money" from the company in exchange for photographs of the mouse and an admission her son had planted it, Cracker Barrel said in a statement issued from its Lebanon, Tenn., headquarters. Davis said the Pattersons sought $500,000.
After Patterson pulled the mouse from her soup, "The general manager came onto the floor and Ms. Patterson was against the fire door wimpering, I guess," Davis said. "We took care of her because you take care of your guests."
Davis said reports of the mouse in the soup made Cracker Barrel the brunt of jokes on late-night television. But she said the incident was especially hard on the 45 workers at the Newport News store because of the decline in business.
"The impact on the Newport News store is very substantial," Davis said. "We had people who did lose money, lots of money."
The Pattersons' arrests Tuesday also signaled the return of vegetable soup, Davis said.
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