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• Mar 6, 2008 11:58 am US/Central
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  Worms In Salad Lead To Couple's Arrest

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Worms In Salad Lead To Couple's Arrest

SCHERERVILLE, Ind. (Post-Tribune) ― A couple who allegedly planted live worms in a restaurant entree to scam a free meal have been arrested and charged with conversion.

Tiffany Vance of Merrillville and her dinner date, Christopher Egnatz of St. John, tried to make a scene Tuesday night after dining at Applebee's, but it didn't play out as they planned.

Servers at the crowded restaurant let the couple walk out on a $57 meal after Vance loudly complained she had found worms wriggling in her salad after the two had almost finished eating, a police report states.

But Vance left behind her purse, with a plastic container of maggot-like bee moth worms inside when she and Egnatz left.

A waitress searching for identification in the purse found the container and called police. As a police officer was taking a report a few minutes later, Egnatz returned, looking for the purse.

Confronted by the officer, Egnatz said Vance had dumped out the worms to get a free meal, and guided police back to the motel where the couple were staying.

During the ride to the police station, Vance told police she was at the restaurant with Egnatz, but he had planted the worms.

In an e-mail, Applebee's spokesman Miles McMillin said the restaurant would have suffered a serious blow to its reputation if Vance hadn't forgotten her purse and left behind evidence.

"Just imagine the damage this would've done to the reputation of the associates of that Applebee's along with the image and brand to our company name had the woman not left her purse behind and word had gotten out about this incident," McMillin wrote.

"Hard-working people could've lost their job, a company's hard-earned reputation destroyed and a valuable local business could've been closed."

(CBS 2 and the Post-Tribune are news partners covering stories in the communities of northwest Indiana. Send story tips to tips@cbs2chicago.com. (© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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