Police: Stoughton man urinated in drink containers, put them back on Brockton grocery store shelves

BROCKTON — A Stoughton man who police say urinated inside several beverage containers, then concealed them back on the shelves inside a grocery store, has been banned by a judge from all grocery stores.

Billy J. Smith Jr., 34, of 83 Ash Park Drive, Stoughton, was arrested Wednesday evening on a warrant and charged with attempted poisoning with intent to kill or injure, disorderly conduct and vandalizing property.

Smith pleaded not guilty Thursday during his teleconference arraignment with Brockton District Court Judge Paula Clifford. He was released on personal recognizance, but ordered by Clifford to stay away from all grocery stores, comply with treatment if he is undergoing any mental health care and to check in with probation once a week.

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Brockton police officer Kenneth Egan wrote in a police report, obtained by The Enterprise, that he was working a detail Tuesday evening at the Stop & Shop at 932 N. Montello St. when he was approached by the store's loss prevention employee about 6 p.m.

The employee told Egan that he had observed a customer "exhibiting suspicious behavior in the store," but that he wasn't yet sure what exactly he had done. Egan wrote that he went to the parking lot to document the type of vehicle the man was driving and his license plate.

Egan noticed the man, who was driving a black Mercedes, to be wearing a white respirator mask as he drove northbound from the store toward Avon, he wrote.

"At that time, (the employee) returned and stated, 'Hey, I think he peed in some milk,'" Egan wrote.

The loss prevention employee told Egan that the man had urinated inside a refrigerated almond milk container, which was now warm to the touch, the report states.

After watching video surveillance from inside the store, court documents state that it was determined the man had possibly contaminated three Almond Breeze containers and three Bai juice containers.

"Upon viewing video of the event, I observed the male party holding items near his groin area in a hidden manner and looking around as if to make sure no one was around," Egan wrote. "He then appears to place the items carefully back on the shelves toward the back, behind other items."

Stop & Shop, in a statement to The Enterprise on Friday morning, called the event an "unfortunate incident."

"This was an isolated incident, and we are cooperating with local law enforcement on the matter," Jennifer Brogan, a company spokeswoman, said in an email. "We are confident that any product potentially impacted by the incident has been safely removed and destroyed — and that the impacted area has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected."

A sheriff's deputy with the Plymouth County Bureau of Criminal Investigation responded to the store Tuesday evening to photograph and process the contaminated items. Investigators ultimately decided to send the items to the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory for fingerprinting and possible urine analysis, the report states.

Egan said he contacted the Stoughton Police Department to check the address that came back to the vehicle he documented leaving the Stop & Shop. A Stoughton police officer told Egan he made contact with a man, identified as Smith, who admitted he was driving the black Mercedes and was previously at the Brockton grocery store.

Brockton police initially took out a summons charging Smith in relation to the incident, but meanwhile applied for an arrest warrant, which was granted and executed at about 5:37 p.m. on Wednesday.

Smith, whose arraignment was done remotely due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, is due back in court on Aug. 13 for a pre-trial conference.

Senior reporter Cody Shepard can be reached by email at cshepard@enterprisenews.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @cshepard_ENT.