Desloge police officer got burger laced with methamphetamine

DESLOGE, Mo. -- The police officer's Quarter Pounder with Cheese tasted a little funny, and for good reason: It was laced with methamphetamine.

The incident happened in December in Desloge, Mo., about 50 miles southwest of St. Louis, but was not made public until Friday.

Police chief James Bullock told KMOV-TV in St. Louis that the officer went to McDonald's the day after Christmas and bought the sandwich, then took it back to the police station.

"He thought it tasted kind of funny, so he looked at the burger," Bullock said. "It looked like it had a foreign substance on it."

The burger was sent to the Missouri Highway Patrol crime lab for testing and tested positive for meth.

In a statement from McDonald's, John McCook, who owns and operates the Desloge restaurant, said the chain is cooperating with the investigation.

No charges have been filed, though Bullock said a young man who used to work at the restaurant is being scrutinized. That man's friends had trouble with the same officer years ago.

Missouri is among the nation's hardest-hit states in terms of meth production and arrests. Police in Desloge and the surrounding counties make hundreds of meth arrests every year.