Former Mount Olive cook sentenced to 4 years for spitting on food, eluding police

A Great Meadows resident has been sentenced to four years in prison for spitting on a customer’s roll while working as a chef in Mount Olive and for eluding police on a motorcycle in Warren County, which ended in a crash that cost him a portion of one leg.

John F. Stagg Jr., 33, of Great Meadows, was sentenced Friday by Superior Court Judge Robert Reed in Warren County to four years in prison for eluding police and to a concurrent, three-year term for tampering with food by spitting on a customer’s roll while he was employed as a chef for Kennedy’s Pub in Mount Olive.

Warren County Assistant Prosecutor Amy Knutsen said the judge noted that Stagg’s conduct in the food tampering case was heinous. The sentences also took into account Stagg’s prior conviction for a robbery for which he served more than eight years in prison.

Stagg pleaded guilty several months ago to both the eluding charge and the food tampering charge. The eluding case stemmed from an incident in 2011 in which an officer in Independence Township clocked Stagg speeding on his motorcycle and attempted to stop him. Stagg led the officer on a three-mile chase that ended in Allamuchy Township when Stagg lost control and struck a tree. A portion of his leg was so badly damaged that it had to be amputated.

Stagg also had admitted that he was riding the motorcycle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Later, working as a cook at Kennedy’s Pub, Stagg on Oct. 17, 2014, spit on a customer’s roll. He previously told the Daily Record that he was angry the female customer sent her pasta meal back to the kitchen several times. He said he spat on the bread but didn’t serve it but a co-worker saw him and reported him to management.

Stagg pleaded guilty in Morris County this spring to the food tampering charge and in Warren County to the eluding charge. For judicial economy reasons, he was sentenced on both cases in Warren County on Friday.

Stagg was fired after the incident at Kennedy’s Pub and a township health inspector paid a visit and found four health violations, which were quickly corrected. The pub now is under new management.

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