Suspected COVID food licker a no-show in court
By Shurtz, Delon on July 9, 2020.
Delon Shurtz
lethbridge herald
A Taber man accused of licking food at a local store in April as part of a Tik Tok COVID challenge never showed up for his first court appearance in Lethbridge this week.
Pancho Klassen Teichroeb was scheduled to be in court Tuesday, but when he never appeared, the judge issued an arrest warrant and held it until next month to give the accused an opportunity to show up for another court hearing. If he fails to appear on Aug. 18, the warrant may be released and he could be charged with failure to attend court.
Teichroeb, 20, is charged with one count of mischief under $5,000 stemming from an incident April 2 when, according to Taber police, four people entered a “food establishment” and one of the individuals licked a product. The business removed the packaged goods from the shelves and sanitized the area, following Covid-19 cleaning protocols.
Police said the group was creating a video to put on the social media platform Tik Tok.
The four people left the business, but a witness reported the incident to store management and police later identified the suspects and charged one of them.
Teichroeb was released on an undertaking to appear in Taber provincial court Tuesday which, like other circuit courts, are being held in Lethbridge because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Martha O’Connor of specialized prosecutions in Calgary told court Tuesday there is a sign posted at circuit courts informing people what they are required to do on their appearance dates. She also pointed the accused hadn’t yet requested disclosure from her office.
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