Authorities in Maine arrested a man accused of putting razor blades in the crust of prepackaged pizza dough. On October 6, the Saco Hannaford Supermarket contacted the police after a customer returned a Portland Pie Pizza with razor blades hidden in the dough.
Officials reviewed surveillance footage from the store and identified the suspect as 38-year-old Nicholas Mitchell. The video showed Mitchell had tampered with several pies, and the company issued a recall of the products while the grocery store pulled the items from their shelves.
The recall impacts all pizzas purchased between August 1 and October 11. There have been no reports of injuries from the pizzas.
"Hannaford Supermarkets has issued a recall for all Portland Pie cheese and Portland Pie fresh dough sold in the deli department. After what is believed to be further malicious tampering incidents involving metal objects inserted into Portland Pie products, Hannaford has removed all Portland Pie products from all store shelves and has paused replenishment of the products indefinitely," Hannaford said in a statement.
Authorities said that Mitchell was a former associate of "It'll Be Pizza," a local company that produces pizza dough for various companies, including Portland Pie.
Mitchell was taken into custody in Dover, New Hampshire, about two hours after police released a photo of him to the public. Officials did not say what charges Mitchell is facing or provide any information about his motives.
Photo: Saco Police Department