Safety guard who shared viral deli video of rodents suspended | Information

DECATUR (CBS46) – While doing security work at South DeKalb Mall, D’Andre Clark said he saw rodents crawling on the shelves of the American Deli in the food court.

“I was just doing my normal patrols and I was following certain patterns and I went through the food court and saw something actually move,” said Clark.

He recorded a cellphone video of the rodent infestation that has now been seen by hundreds of thousands of people online.

It even caught the attention of state and local health officials. DeKalb County has suspended American Deli’s approval and forced the restaurant to close until further notice.

“It’s disturbing, yes, but I’m not surprised,” said shopping buyer Cheryl Johnson.

The DeKalb County Health Department also issued a breach notice to the mall administration, instructing them to rat-proof their buildings or take legal action for the next three days.

“There’s no telling how many people have actually eaten there before, myself included, and I don’t know if they walked around and touched the food or brought something else in that could have made me or so many other people sick. ” said Clark.

Mall management announced that they are working with the county to resolve the pest problem and will present a progress report on Thursday.

“You are walking around the front of the store that could have been prevented,” said Clark.

D’Andre Clark was suspended from his security job after his video went viral.

“I’m not even sure if I’m going back, or if they’ll allow me to go back, I can’t tell you. I’m going to go back.” I just had to let everyone know, this is disgusting, ”said Clark.

CBS46 contacted the mall management and security company about Clark’s suspension and they sent us this statement:

“ONll Gallery at South DeKalb restaurant tenants are required to adhere to strict parameters relating to food safety, food processing practices, and guest health, as set out in their rental agreements and local and government food service guidelines and safety standards. Because of the nature of its operations in an older building, the mall has always had, and will continue to do, very frequent pest control visits and regular rodent treatments from a third party. We would like to assure all of our guests and friends at South DeKalb that we take this footage very seriously and that your health and safety is guaranteed [utmost] important to us as we are working closely with the DeKalb County Board of Health to resolve the issues and continue to maintain hygiene standards. We are in daily contact with the county and the action plan and voluntary progress report will be presented by July 29th. American Deli will remain closed during repairs. We cannot talk about employment measures taken by the outside property security team and we recommend reaching out to them directly for more information. “

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