PC-GUY
1
(Wilmington)- It's already making national headlines. An employee at Kohl's Frozen Custard on South College Road in Wilmington, accidentally cut off part of his finger on the job Sunday night. His fingertip wound up in a pint of chocolate custard, and the customer that found it plans to sue.
We don't know the employee's name, but we do know he's 23 years old, and lost part of his right index finger in a custard machine. "The employee was attempting to put a bucket full of chocolate ice cream into the dipping cabinet when he dropped it and attempted to catch it in mid air," the Kohl's Store Co-Owner Craig Thomas tells NewsChannel 3. During the freak accident, the employee put his finger through the hole that dispenses frozen custard. The beaters inside took the tip of his finger right off, and through a series of unfortunate events, the finger wound up in Clarence Stowers custard.
"I said 'Gosh this ice cream is good.' Then I said, 'Gosh, there's something hard in my ice cream," said Clarence, remembering the moments before he found the finger. Clarence said he wished he'd realized it was a finger before he tried to eat it. "I proceeded to put the object in my mouth. Got all the ice cream off of it, spit it in my hand, said 'God, this ain't no nut!' So I proceeded in here to the kitchen, rinsed it off with water, and realized it was a human finger, and I just started screaming," he said.
You might be wondering why this chocolate custard ever got served. Owners at Kohl's say everything happened so fast, and their immediate focus was helping the injured employee. "When [the manager] saw how bad it was, she sent him out the door to the hospital, and before she could get up, in those seconds, to turn things off, an employee from the drive through, came up and dipped a pint of chocolate ice cream, the only thing to come out of that bucket, and it was sold through the drive through," Thomas said of the infamous pint of ice cream.
We're told the employee is recovering, but will have to live without his finger tip, because Clarence didn't return it. Clarence is keeping the finger in his freezer, hoping to use it as evidence in his lawsuit. Monday he had meetings with several Wilmington attorneys, but there's no word if anyone has taken the case.
Since custard is a dairy product, the Department of Agriculture is handling the consumer safety investigation. A field agent has already inspected and sanitized the machine, and says it's safe to use again.
The same thing happened last Summer at the same Kohl's on College Road. William Franklin had only been working three days when he lost the tip of his right index finger. The State Department of Labor inspected the machine last summer, and determined that it is not dangerous if used properly. Investigators did not cite Kohl's then, but have launched a new investigation after this weekend's incident.
wwaytv3.com
We don't know the employee's name, but we do know he's 23 years old, and lost part of his right index finger in a custard machine. "The employee was attempting to put a bucket full of chocolate ice cream into the dipping cabinet when he dropped it and attempted to catch it in mid air," the Kohl's Store Co-Owner Craig Thomas tells NewsChannel 3. During the freak accident, the employee put his finger through the hole that dispenses frozen custard. The beaters inside took the tip of his finger right off, and through a series of unfortunate events, the finger wound up in Clarence Stowers custard.
"I said 'Gosh this ice cream is good.' Then I said, 'Gosh, there's something hard in my ice cream," said Clarence, remembering the moments before he found the finger. Clarence said he wished he'd realized it was a finger before he tried to eat it. "I proceeded to put the object in my mouth. Got all the ice cream off of it, spit it in my hand, said 'God, this ain't no nut!' So I proceeded in here to the kitchen, rinsed it off with water, and realized it was a human finger, and I just started screaming," he said.
You might be wondering why this chocolate custard ever got served. Owners at Kohl's say everything happened so fast, and their immediate focus was helping the injured employee. "When [the manager] saw how bad it was, she sent him out the door to the hospital, and before she could get up, in those seconds, to turn things off, an employee from the drive through, came up and dipped a pint of chocolate ice cream, the only thing to come out of that bucket, and it was sold through the drive through," Thomas said of the infamous pint of ice cream.
We're told the employee is recovering, but will have to live without his finger tip, because Clarence didn't return it. Clarence is keeping the finger in his freezer, hoping to use it as evidence in his lawsuit. Monday he had meetings with several Wilmington attorneys, but there's no word if anyone has taken the case.
Since custard is a dairy product, the Department of Agriculture is handling the consumer safety investigation. A field agent has already inspected and sanitized the machine, and says it's safe to use again.
The same thing happened last Summer at the same Kohl's on College Road. William Franklin had only been working three days when he lost the tip of his right index finger. The State Department of Labor inspected the machine last summer, and determined that it is not dangerous if used properly. Investigators did not cite Kohl's then, but have launched a new investigation after this weekend's incident.
wwaytv3.com
