NEWS

Mt. Olive chef accused of spitting on roll said food wasn’t served

Peggy Wright
@PeggyWrightDR

A former chef who is charged with spitting on a customer’s roll at Kennedy’s Pub in Mount Olive said Wednesday the roll never got served but he impulsively spat on it and told a co-worker because the customer kept returning her meal of chicken francaise to the kitchen.

“The roll was never even served. I spit on the roll and put it in the oven” but then replaced the roll, defendant John F. Stagg Jr., 32, told the Daily Record in an interview at Superior Court, Morristown.

The ex-chef, a resident of the Great Meadows section of Independence Twp., was indicted by a Morris County grand jury on a charge of tampering with food at Kennedy’s Pub on Oct. 18. Stagg said he grew annoyed after a female customer’s chicken francaise was sent back to the kitchen a few times. He said he spat on the roll and told a co-worker, who reported him.

“He wanted my job,” Stagg said.

The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office has offered Stagg a plea bargain of three years in prison. The plea offer is hefty because he has a prior robbery conviction for which he served 8 1/2 years in state prison. He said he was just over the age of 18 and addicted to drugs when he committed the robbery.

“They don’t care about me, that I have a son. I’m a convict and I already served eight and a half years in prison,” he said bitterly before leaving the courthouse.

Stagg appeared Wednesday before Superior Court Judge Robert Gilson in Morristown for arraignment on the indictment. Defense lawyer Elizabeth Martin entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf and said she will be ordering a transcript of the grand jury proceeding. Martin said she also expects to try to suppress statements that Stagg gave police at the restaurant. Stagg is next due in Superior Court on May 20.

Stagg also has a pending charge of eluding police in Warren County for which he is slated to go on trial on May 11.

Stagg was fired after the reported spitting incident and a township health inspector paid a visit to the pub, finding four health violations, which were quickly corrected. The pub now is under new management.

The tampering charge is punishable upon conviction by a maximum of five years in prison, and he also was charged with the disorderly persons offense of creating a hazardous condition.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@njpressmedia.com.