East TN Deputy Finds Cocaine in Drink

CHATTANOOGA — A Hamilton County deputy says a local server slipped a bag of cocaine into his meal in 2017, which could have cost his job.

Ricky E. Wolfe is asking for $150,000 from Debo’s Diners, Inc., a corporation that operates a chain of Steak n’ Shake restaurants in Eastern Tennessee, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Hamilton County Circuit Court.

Wolfe said he went to a Steak n’ Shake on Hixson Pike while off-duty on May 25, 2017. Wolfe gave his order to a waitress, who brought him a drink while he waited on his food.

But when he took a sip, Wolfe noticed an odd taste to his drink. He took the lid off, found a bag of cocaine inside and immediately called the Chattanooga Police Department, the suit says.

A responding officer who scanned Steak n’ Shake’s security footage saw Wolfe’s waitress “deposit the baggie of cocaine into plaintiff’s beverage,” the suit says.

When the officer questioned the waitress, she said had more cocaine in her possession. She was arrested and indicted on drug-related charges by a Hamilton County grand jury, the suit says.

“This breach exposed the plaintiff to an unreasonable and foreseeable risk of his losing his employment,” says the suit, filed by attorney Robin Flores. “Had plaintiff not found the baggie of cocaine in his beverage, consumed the cocaine, and later tested positive for cocaine by his employer, he would have most certainly been terminated from his employment.”

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