The food services worker accused of spitting on pizza at Comerica Park is facing a felony charge for the incident.
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Jaylon Kerley, 20, of Detroit has been charged in connection with spitting on pizza dough he was preparing while working at a concession stand in Comerica Park.
He has been charged with one count of Food Law Violations, MCL 289.5107(2), a 4-year felony, and one count of Food Law Violations, MCL 289.5107(1), a 90-day misdemeanor.
Kerley was arraigned Tuesday morning and was given a $100,000 bond. The city health department requested mandatory health testing, which includes testing for Hepatitis A, that was granted.
On Sept. 21, Kerley allegedly spat on a pizza he was preparing and covered his saliva with pizza sauce. The incident was captured on video that soon went viral and was reported to the head of security at Comerica Park.
Kerley was arrested on Sept. 23 and was fired as a result of the incident.
Dr. Christopher Carpenter, an Infectious Disease Specialist with Beaumont Hospital, agrees with the mandatory medical testing, but says the risk is low.
“It’s looks like the pizza was not yet cooked, so they cooked it afterwards. That may eliminate some risks, even without that cooking, generally people aren’t carrying bacteria or viruses that would be that contagious to other people in their oral secretions.”
Dr. Christopher Carpenter explained, “When you eat things, it goes right into your stomach and your stomach has stomach acids that protects you a lot against potential pathogens.”
Dr. Carpenter said diseases could be transmitted through spit, but the odds are unlikely.
“Yes people could’ve been exposed, could there been a cold virus in there. Yeah potentially could have survived the cooking, yes potentially. Are people likely to get sick from it, probably not,” he added
