That’s no dry rub.
A disturbed worker at a pricey Kansas steakhouse admitted to cops that he tainted food served to customers more than 20 times, including vile acts like placing his genitals on salmon, urinating in pickles and au jus sauce and putting lettuce down his pants — and posted videos of the sick displays online, court documents reveal.
Jace Christian Hanson, 21, worked at Hereford House steakhouse in the affluent community of Leawood for less than a month before his stomach-churning antics got him busted by local police.
He admitted at least some of the revolting acts were inspired by men he met on dating apps and fetish sites — who egged him on and made special requests, according to cops.
Police were tipped off by FBI agents investigating reports of possible intentional food contamination at the restaurant — where a 16-oz. Kansas City strip runs $59.
The federal agents also provided detectives with thumbnails from videos posted on a website called thisvid.com by a user going by the name “Vandalizer” which depicted a male “urinating in food contained in restaurant-style bins, pressing food items against his penis and buttocks, and using their feet to touch food items,” detectives said in their April 26 affidavit.
The videos included sadistic titles such as “pissing in the serving sauce again,” “Pissing on restaurant desert [sic],” “Love making people taste my sweaty balls and toes,” “Spitting on everything in restaurant part 2,” and more.
Due to concerns unsuspecting customers were being served contaminated food, the FBI pinged a phone number they believed belonged to Hanson, tracking its signal to the Hereford House parking lot, where they found a vehicle registered in his name.
On April 25, detectives spoke to the restaurant’s owner and the head chef, who recognized his au jus sauce in one of the thumbnail photographs. Hanson, who happened to be working that day, was promptly called out of the kitchen, where one of the officers recognized his shoes as the ones worn in at least three videos.
Hanson admitted to contaminating the food, telling officers “I’ll just be straight up, yeah,” adding that he had “just been doing stupid sh–.”
When asked to elaborate, Hanson said he had been “urinating in food,” “rubbing food on his d–k,” and admitted to shoving food items down his pants on numerous occasions. He estimated he had tainted food more than 20 times, and said “he is sure” that items he’d befouled were we ultimately served to diners.
He said he had even been taking special requests to violate food items from men he’d met through apps like Grindr, Sniffy’s and Scruff, also communicating with them through SnapChat.
He admitted to masturbating in the restaurant’s walk-in cooler, though denied putting his bodily fluids on any food products. He said his most recent act of food tampering was on April 23, when he put lettuce down his pants and returned it to the storage tray to be served to customers.
When cops asked him what inspired his monstrous behavior, Hanson said initially he did it because he didn’t like the job, but conceded that he continued doing it even after he started enjoying the work.
Hereford House, which has been open since 1957, said in a statement that, “This is an upsetting situation for our customers and for all of us connected to the restaurant.“
The statement added that the community has been supportive, and the restaurant looks “”look “forward to continuing serving everyone.”
Longtime loyal patrons of the restaurant were devastated by the news, including John Durrett of Kansas City, who told The Kansas City Star the incident was “a death penalty to our trust.”
Early last month, Durrett brought his mother to Hereford House to plan final arrangements for his late father because it had been his favorite restaurant.
“We thought Dad would love for us to go to the Hereford House,” he told the outlet.
But within hours of eating their dinner, Durrett became sick with gastrointestinal issues, later concluding he likely consumed contaminated food.
“If the news story hadn’t broken, I probably would not have put two and two together,” he said. “I wouldn’t have connected the dots.”
Hanson was arrested and booked on felony charges of criminal threat, which can carry a prison sentence up to 13 months and a fine of up to $100,000.
He is currently out on a $100,000 bond and is due back in Johnson County District Court June 6. The Leawood Police Department is seeking individuals who may have dined at the restaurant between March 26 and April 23 and subsequently fell ill.
At least 140 people have come forward to report eating at the restaurant during the time period in question.
Leawood is located about 10 miles southwest of Kansas City, Mo.
