Three New York police ill after suspected contamination of drinks

[June 16, 2020]    (Reuters) - Three New York City police officers fell ill and were hospitalized on Monday after drinking beverages at a fast-food outlet that a police association said were believed to have been contaminated with bleach.

A representative of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the three had been taken to hospital after consuming an unknown substance at a Shake Shack Inc outlet and police were investigating.

"At some point during their meal period, the MOS (members of service) discovered that a toxic substance, believed to be bleach, had been placed in their beverages," the New York City Patrolmen's Benevolent Association said in a statement.

The officers had been assigned to a protest in Lower Manhattan, the association said.

Like most U.S. cities, New York has had daily protests demanding racial justice since the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis.

Shake Shack said on Twitter the outlet was horrified by reports of injured officers.

The officers were being treated and their illness was not life threatening, police said.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair and Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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