Health Department investigates violation of health laws at local eating establishment
Editor's Note: The Big Spring Herald was made aware of the video circulating on Facebook regarding a young man spitting on the grill at a Taco Villa establishment. A press release was issued by the Mayor of Big Spring, Shannon Thomason, and the City of Big Spring Health Officials, in regards to this incident. The mother of the young man also reached out to the Big Spring Herald and shared an apology letter for the community. After reading over the letter, the Big Spring Herald reached out to District Attorney Hardy Wilkerson and Taco Villa The following press release was issued by Mayor Shannon Thomason and the City of Big Spring Health Officials:
On Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, at approximately 7:30 p.m., a video was posted online that led to an investigation into possible violations of health and safety laws at a local restaurant. Local health officials were immediately dispatched to the location and began an investigation into the video’s content. Officials met with management and owners of the restaurant to determine the extent of any violation that may have occurred and any possible action to be taken by local health officials.
The City of Big Spring does not issue comment on matters concerning the private employment of individuals.
Local health officials believe this is an isolated incident and want to assure the public that the restaurant is taking this incident very seriously. Restaurant management has informed local health officials that they are taking all appropriate action to ensure the health safety of the public including extensive cleaning of the entire facility as well as decontamination and sanitizing of all kitchen equipment. The grill shown in the video is known to have been removed and replaced with a new appliance.
City of Big Spring health officials will continue working with the business to ensure there are no health or safety issues at this restaurant. This is an ongoing investigation and City officials have no further comment at
this time.
On Friday morning, the Big Spring Herald spoke with Craig Vanamburgh, Marketing Director of Taco Villa, and he informed us that immediate action was taken once the company was made aware of the incident. The following is a response from Taco Villa:
“The incident occurred last night (Thursday) after the store was closed. As soon as we were made aware of the incident we took immediate action. The two employees involved have been terminated. A deep cleaning, sanitizing and fogging of the entire store – not just the two pieces of equipment involved – took place. In addition to the two pieces of equipment involved have been taken out of use and new equipment has replaced them.”
According to Vanamburgh, Taco Villa representatives are working with the local health department to ensure all steps have been taken to re-open. The Big Spring location will not re-open until given the green light by the health department.
The mother of the young man involved also reached out to the Big Spring Herald and shared an apology letter on behalf of her son. The letter was also posted across social media platforms as well. The letter reads as follows:
“Good morning I am the mother of the son that committed the incident at Taco Villa and we would like to publish a letter apologizing to the City of Big Spring.
Hello, my name is Bryan Wilkins I was the teenager involved in the incident at Taco Villa. I want to begin by expressing how deeply sorry I am for what I have done. I never meant to cause this much of an issue. I was being stupid and was not thinking of my actions at the time. I was being immature and thought I was being funny. I realize how this is not a laughing matter. I was not aware of how my actions has not only affected me but Taco Villa itself. I also enjoy eating at restaurants in Big Spring and I too would not want someone to mess with my food in any inappropriate matter. I did not realize the impact it had on the community and why it was a big issue until I looked at it in a customer's perspective. I'm an A B Honor roll student, NHS representative and have never been in any disciplinary trouble ever. I was raised better than the actions that I displayed. I was just a teenager who made a stupid, stupid mistake and did not use my head to process if this was wrong. I want to apologize for my actions once again sincerely. I will be taking on any consequences for the actions I have committed. I went to the district attorney's office this morning to turn myself in and to accept any consequences that I may face. I want to apologize the community of Big Spring for what I did in the incident, I apologize to the Bobby Cox Corporation, and anyone else that I have offended with the actions I displayed. I want to learn from this experience and grow as not only a respectful young citizen, but also as a human being.”
In speaking with District Attorney Hardy Wilkerson, the young man involved in the incident did appear in the District Attorney's office Friday morning. While the young man did present himself to the DA, no action has been taken at this time.
“It is to premature for my office to get involved,” District Attorney Hardy Wilkerson said. “An investigation has to be conducted and paperwork would need to be submitted and then brought before a Grand Jury before any action could be taken. At this time I am waiting to hear from the Health and Safety Inspector.”