Man Who Stuffed Razor Blades in Pizza Dough Is Sentenced

Update: A man who admitted to planting razor blades in pizza dough sold at a Maine-based supermarket chain was sentenced to 4 years and nine months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $230,000 in restitution on Thursday. "My intentions were never to harm anybody, only to disrupt my former employer's bottom line," New Hampshire's Nicholas Mitchell said, per the Portland Press Herald. Investigators said he'd been fired from It'll Be Pizza, which supplies dough to Hannaford stores, four months before tampering with the dough at the supermarket in Saco, Maine, on Oct. 5, 2020. Three customers and a store employee found razor blades in the recalled dough, though no injuries were reported, per the New York Times. Our original story from October 2020 follows:

A man has been arrested after police say he put razor blades in pizza dough that was then sold at a Maine supermarket. The Bangor Daily News reports 38-year-old Nicholas Mitchell was taken into custody over the weekend in Dover, NH, a few days after the Hannaford store in Saco reported the tampering incident to the police. ABC News reports the issue was brought to Hannaford's attention when a customer returned a package of Portland Pie dough after finding an undisclosed number of razor blades in it, according to a statement by the Saco Police Department. Mitchell is said to be a former worker for the It'll Be Pizza supply company, which makes products for Portland Pie.

Per News Center Maine, police say store surveillance footage showed Mitchell tampering with the packaging for the dough. He was arrested Sunday night. Hannaford officials say they're taking all Portland Pie products off store shelves "out of an abundance of caution." So far, no sickness or injuries have been reported linked to this case, and it's not clear what the alleged motive may have been or whether anyone specific was being targeted. Customers who purchased dough or cheese from the company at any Hannaford stores between Aug. 1 and Oct. 11 shouldn't eat it; they can bring it back to the store for a full refund. (More weird crimes stories.)