Phillips says the 2-inch needle went right through her tongue, forcing she and hubby Craig to pull the needle out the tongue right then and there. "I thought it was a toothpick at first," Ashley Phillips said. "But a toothpick doesn’t pierce all the way through the side of your tongue." [Frankly, I don't get that – why couldn't a toothpick do that if you bit into it wrong? There do exist some mean toothpicks out there].
Phillips says that once they'd pried the needle from her mush, Chili's workers promptly swooped in to abscond with said needle to the back of the joint. "Whisked it way," she said. "They took it away so fast." She and hubby say they were too shocked to even react to the rapidly occurring events.
Only problem? Phillips says Chili's wouldn't give the needle (i.e., EVIDENCE) back, even after a doctor told her the next day to get the needle so that it could be tested for disease.
Why would it need to be tested for disease, you might ask? Well, Phillips' lawyer says they have "reason to believe" (such a great legal phrase) that the needle belonged to one of the Chili's employees who used it to, GET THIS, "clean his marijuana pipe"!!!
Lawyer guy also says that all of the Chili's employees knew of the alleged pothead, perhaps inspiring their quick action in "whisking away" the alleged bad evidence faster than a contact high in a Mississippi $hithouse (allegedly).
Phillips says that if the needle could have been medically tested within 72 hours, she could have established immediately whether or not she was at risk for disease from being impaled by the sharp metal object.
But, she says, Chili's wouldn't give up the "burned-looking" needle for almost two months, allegedly raising the specter of the needle being "cleaned" in the interim such that any disease risk wouldn't show up on a test.
BTW, if these alleged facts are true, and the needle was in fact cleaned, they have a nice little convenient term for that under the law: It's called spoliation of evidence. BUT, we are just talking allegations here.
Meantime, Phillips has filed a lawsuit against Chili's, alleging such "pointed allegations," among other things, as emotional distress. I would assume that encompasses an element of alleged fear of contracting a disease, plus Phillips says she had to stop breastfeeding her baby after the needle incident because of the risk of her contracting a disease.
[BTW, the "Pointed Allegations" blast was excellent by the local Farmington, New Mexico Daily Times and reporter Kurt Madar! Very New York Post-esque. Frankly, very The Independent Rage-esque!].
"Nursing is so important for an infant's health and emotional development that we are suing for emotional damages," says Phillips. [Whose emotions, the kid's? Is the baby joined in the lawsuit as a plaintiff? I actually have no idea – just wondering out loud].
Regardless of all of this, a bit of commentary: I am SO TIRED of blogging about these crazy incidents ultimately resulting in lawsuits or criminal charges, and THEN never hearing anything about them ever again!
Hey mainstream media: It's called the follow-up. If you cover it in the first instance, then follow it through and let us know how it's going! To quote Charlie Sheen, DUH! But just reading his headline, I have a certain degree of faith in this Madar reporter dude.
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