Southern California Man Finds Dead Geckos in His Beer

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Summary: A California man is suing Heineken and Krogers for negligence when he found dead geckos in his beer that made him violently ill.

You crack open a cold one on a hot summer day expecting to take a nice big drink, not to find something floating around in your beer. A Fountain Valley man went to open his Heineken, finding two dead geckos inside but not before he took a big drink. He has filed suit in Orange County Superior Court against the beer maker and grocery store chain.

  

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George Toubbeh noticed the beer tasted a little sour when he gulped down the drink. He immediately started having stomach pains and vomited. His daughter was the one that took a closer look at his beer and found the juvenile lizards inside.

Toubbeh is suing Heineken and The Kroger Co. for the bad beer he bought at a Ralphs supermarket in August of 2015. Ohio-based Kroger owns the Ralphs chain of supermarkets. He alleges that he suffered severe abdominal pain after drinking the tainted beer.

The lawsuit states, “When discovered, the geckos had not been decomposed at all and were likely alive when the beer was poured and sealed into the cans in the bottling and/or canning facility.”

Heineken USA is a subsidiary of the Dutch brewing company. They stated, “[Heineken] holds the safety and integrity of the products we import to the highest standards. We have investigated this isolated claim, and based on a number of factors, we confidently believe there is no merit to this claim.”

Toubbeh’s attorney, John Montevideo, had his law firm, DiMarco Araujo Montevideo, independently examine the beer can. The leopard geckos were taken to a zoologist for evaluation. Montevideo said, “We feel the action is meritorious and viable.”

Toubbeh ended up going to Fountain Valley Regional Hospital’s emergency room to be treated. He was prescribed the sedative Xanax and Zofran, a medicine to treat nausea and vomiting. He was instructed to return if the physical ailments continued, which they did. Toubbeh had to visit an Urgent Care two days later for “severe stomach pains and cramps, loss of sensation, hyperactive bowel movements, and nearly complete loss of appetite.”

He claims he had to miss several weeks of work and still suffers from severe gastrointestinal ailments, post-traumatic stress disorder, emotional distress and “extreme anxiety”.

He is seeking unspecified damages for medical expenses, missed earnings, and the cost of the lawsuit.

Leopard geckos are native to northern India, the Asian highlands, and Afghanistan. Unlike other geckos, leopard geckos are unable to climb up smooth surfaces, making them an especially popular pet. They are generally a solitary animal and do not live with other animals.

Why do you think Toubbeh waited two years to file his lawsuit? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

To read about other beer stories, see these articles:

• Pig in Australia Steals 18 Beers from Campers, Gets Drunk, Fights Cow
• Beck’s Beer Loses False Advertising Suit, Beer Actually Brewed in the U.S.
• Florida Man Pees Over Beer Inside Walk-In Cooler
• Lawyer Pours Beer on Woman after She Rejects Him

Photo: fox5sandiego.com