Patricia Headrick said she needed one more thing before she left Walmart on Black Friday. She grabbed a boxed bra off the shelf and reached inside to make sure it was the right size.
"That's when it pricks me," Headrick said Wednesday.
When she reached into the box, Headrick's finger was stuck by a syringe needle. Headrick immediately panicked.
"Whose arm was this in? Whose body?" Headrick asked herself. "Am I going to die?"
Syringes have been found in clothing items sold at the Walmart in Cartersville four times in recent days, and Bartow County deputies want to find the person responsible. In two of the cases, hypodermic needles have pierced the skin of customers, who required emergency medical care to hopefully prevent the spread of disease, Sgt. Jonathan Rogers with the Bartow County Sheriff's Office said.
It is unclear whether the syringes have previously been used or what, if anything, they contained, Rogers said. In one case, the needle was bent, but still attached to the syringe. The syringes have been sent to the GBI for further testing.
Headrick and her husband, Keith, told Walmart managers what happened and she said she was sent to the local hospital, where she got a Tetanus shot and had blood work done. She's OK so far, but says she'll have to return to the doctor's office for more testing in six months. In the meantime, she says she's fearful she'll contract a disease, such as Hepatitis.
"I'm just waiting game," Headrick said. "I'm scared to death. I don't know what's going to happen."
Headrick said her family paid $1,300 for medicine that will hopefully deter an illness. Doctors advised her she needed the medicine within seven days, she said.
Walmart declined to pay for the treatment, Headrick said, but a Walmart spokeswoman told the AJC Wednesday evening that "any customers harmed as a result of this [will be reimbursed] for any valid medical expenses."
"We are committed to getting to the bottom of this, to determine exactly what happened and how," said spokeswoman Dianna Gee via phone from Walmart's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters.
Store employees have inspected clothing and no additional syringes were found, said Gee. Additional staff will be monitoring the apparel department as well, she said.
"At this point, we believe this an isolated incident involving just this store," said Gee.
Investigators believe the syringes have purposely been placed in clothing, Rogers said. Deputies are working with Walmart officials to review surveillance footage. The syringes all appear to be the same type, commonly used by those with diabetes, and could have been purchased from any pharmacy without a prescription, Rogers said.
"We don't want anyone else to get injured at all," Rogers said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. "We'd like to prosecute the person responsible."
Three days before Headrick was pricked, a syringe was found in a pair of footed pajamas, Rogers said. A mother told investigators she'd bought the pajamas at Walmart for her 14-year-old daughter, who was pricked on the finger and possibly the foot by a needle while putting them on, police said.
Emergency medical workers treated the teen in her home, Rogers said.
In another incident, a syringe was found in a pair of Hello Kitty socks, Rogers said. Walmart officials reported this incident to the sheriff's office, but Rogers did not know the date of the incident.
And in the most recent incident Tuesday, a Walmart shopper found a syringe in a pair of pants, Rogers said. But in that case, the shopper was not stuck with the needle.
Rogers said he is unaware of any similar incidents at other Walmarts or other retail outlets in the area.
About the Author
