GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A protest erupted outside of the BP gas station on M.L.K. Jr. Street SE and Eastern Avenue SE in Grand Rapids Tuesday evening.
The call to protest was posted on Kent County Commissioner Robert S. Womack's Facebook page, when he claimed a gas station clerk was selling pills in candy bags inside the store.
Grand Rapids Police explained the clerk was bagging up candy to sell it on Monday night when he dropped his diabetes medication in some of the bags. He believed he recovered all of them, but missed a couple bags, which were inadvertently sold.
Officers were called to the scene by a mother who had candy bags from the gas station and found the pills. Police spoke with the clerk, who had a bottle for the same medication in the bags with his name on it.
The pills were confirmed to be diabetes medication through a pill identifier. Police say they are not a scheduled controlled substance, and would not have an effect on anyone that does not have a diabetic condition.
The interaction was documented on Womack's Facebook page, who called to "boycott them" and "shut this gas station down."
"Somebody needs to go to jail," he added.
“We are thankful this mother was able to locate the misplaced medication before it was consumed by her children,” said Deputy Chief Scott Rifenberg. “This was an unfortunate incident but is believed to be accidental."
"There are no criminal charges being pursued at this time by GRPD; however, we are meeting with the Michigan Department of Agriculture which is also now looking into this situation," Rifenberg said.
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