Leawood Hereford House closes due to financial troubles caused by 'recent events'

***EDITORS NOTE: Some of the following details may be disturbing. Please use discretion.***

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A spokesperson for the Leawood Hereford House announced it is closing due to financial troubles caused by "recent events."

The restaurant's last day of service will be Saturday, Aug. 3.

In May, the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office filed food adulteration charges against 21-year-old Jace Christian Hanson, who worked at the Hereford House.

According to court documents, on April 25, information was received from an FBI special agent regarding possible intentional food contamination ongoing at Hereford House, located at 5001 Town Center Drive.

The tip was about a restaurant employee contaminating food by means such as urinating in food or rubbing food items on his genitals and posting videos online.

The special agent later provided thumbnails for videos posted to a website from the username “Vandalizer.” The images depicted a male urinating in food contained in restaurant-style bins, pressing food items against his privates and buttocks and using their feet to touch food items.

Some of the titles of videos include “pissing in the serving sauce again,” “pissing on restaurant desert,” “Spitting on everything in restaurant part 2” and more.

When Hanson was questioned, he described instances of urinating in Au Jus sauce, placing his privates on salmon and urinating in pickles, according to court documents. He estimated there have been over 20 instances where he had contaminated food at the restaurant.

Since charges were filed, a number of lawsuits have been filed by people who said they got sick after eating at the restaurant.

In a statement announcing the closure, the restaurant said it was a hard yet necessary decision.

"Our decision to close the Hereford House Leawood is not easy, but is necessitated by the recent
events which were beyond our control. Again, a heartfelt thank you to our staff who have held
their heads high and persevered through public and media scrutiny and to those of you who have continued to support us."

According to the statement, they will work with each team member to place them at one of the other restaurants that bear the Hereford House brand or with other restaurants in the community.

They also thanked its customers, chefs, managers, servers, kitchen staff and support staff in the statement.