Woman Avoids Charge in Pepsi Syringe Report

An Anaheim woman who reported that she found a syringe in a Pepsi can will not be charged with product tampering, a federal official announced Thursday, because the woman “decided not to follow through with her story.”

Officials of the Food and Drug Administration told Judith Ann Barackman, 51, that a violation of the federal Anti-Tampering Act carries with it a sentence of up to five years in jail and a possible $250,000 fine, FDA spokeswoman Rosario Vior said.

“In this case (Barackman) has decided not to follow through with their report,” Vior said. “Therefore, the U.S. attorney will not follow up with charges.”

The Barackman claim came about a week after complaints of hypodermic needles in regular and Diet Pepsi cola began popping up around the nation. The first report occurred in the Seattle-Tacoma area and then quickly spread nationwide with more than 50 reports filed in 23 states.

On June 15, after evidence had mounted that the scare was a hoax, the first arrest was made in Pennsylvania. Since that time, at least 20 other people have been arrested on federal tampering charges, including the arrest Thursday of a Fallbrook man, Vior said.

Two other Southern Californians, one in Bakersfield and another in West Hollywood, are among those arrested, Vior said.

Others have recanted their stories, Vior said.

“When informed of the law, some people decide not to pursue the report any further,” Vior said.

Barackman could not be reached for comment Thursday.

On June 14, she walked into a Lucky Market at 2500 E. Imperial Highway in Brea with the cola can in her hand about 8 p.m. and asked to see the manager, said a store spokesman who asked not to be identified. She was carrying a 12-ounce can of regular Pepsi, and told the manager she had found a syringe in it.

The manager then called Brea police who came to the store and took a report. The Police Department issued a press release describing the incident the next day.

Last week, Barackman’s husband, Doug, reiterated to reporters that a white plastic syringe was in a Pepsi they had bought at the market that evening. Doug Barackman also said they had no plans to sue Pepsi-Cola Co. or its parent, Pepsico of Somers, N.Y.

Jeff Brown, a spokesman for Pepsico in Irvine, said another syringe report was filed by a woman at a Shell service station in Tustin on June 17. Details of that report were not available.