|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
March 9, 2006Police smell rat in mouse 'burrito'Man charged with making up a tale to bilk Taco BellTRAVERSE CITY - A local man's alleged scheme to strike it rich by slipping a dead mouse into a burrito flopped when his girlfriend ratted out his extortion plan, police said.Ryan Daniel Goff, 20, of Traverse City, is charged with attempted extortion - a five-year felony - after he allegedly put a dead mouse in a burrito and attempted to extort money from the Taco Bell restaurant chain. "I don't recall seeing anything like this before," Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider said. "It was pretty ill-conceived from the beginning." Goff was at the Chum's Corner Taco Bell on Jan. 24 when he allegedly complained to an employee that his burrito tasted "funny." Sheriff's officials said Goff allegedly declined a replacement burrito and insisted on keeping his when he left the restaurant. Goff later called Taco Bell's regional manager, Robert Buckle, identified himself, and said he wanted "something that would make my ears tingle" to settle the matter, according to 86th District Court records. "It won't be a good day if the media finds out about this," Goff allegedly warned Buckle, who reported the statement to sheriff's Detective Paul Gomez. "There was an implied threat there to the regional manager and that is why we charged this as an attempt," said Schneider. "He took some actions toward the completion of the crime." Schneider said Goff was trapped when his girlfriend, Jessica Malmstrom, allegedly told Gomez she was with Goff when he bought frozen mice at a pet store and saw him place one in the burrito at the Taco Bell. Malmstrom asked Goff why he purchased the mice, and Goff replied, "to get rich quick," according to the complaint. "Once the detective went and talked to her, she didn't have any difficulty laying it out for him," said Schneider. "In 25 years, I think I have only had a couple extortion cases, but certainly nothing like this." Goff is scheduled for arraignment today and is held in the county jail on unrelated charges of fourth-degree fleeing and eluding police and a second-offense driving on a suspended license, according to district court records. A message left at Goff's listed residence was not immediately returned. Gomez reported that Goff took the mouse-spiced burrito to the county health department, where an employee said Goff repeatedly commented about how much money "the lady got from McDonald's" after spilling coffee on herself. "It looked like he was kind of building his story by going to the health department and saying, 'look what I found,'" said Schneider. "He also made a trip to a veterinarian to tell him what it was." Goff's alleged plot mirrors a finger-in-my-chili scam cooked up in March 2005 by Anna Ayala, who's imprisoned for attempting to defraud a Wendy's restaurant in San Jose, Calif. Ayala, along with her husband, Jaime Plascencia, who got the finger from an associate, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to file a false claim and attempted grand theft. Ayala and Plascencia were sentenced in January to serve nine and 12 years in prison, respectively.
|
|
