Sonic Manager Arrested on Charges of Cooking Meth at Restaurant

by David Koeppel, Posted Dec 11th 2009 @ 2:30PM

Apparently an employee was cooking up more than just extra long chili cheese hot dogs at a Sonic restaurant in Missouri -- police say he was cooking up meth.

Police arrived at the Cape Girardeau, Mo., Sonic drive-in, about 115 miles south of Saint Louis, shortly before 2 a.m. on Thursday to discover 27-year-old Dennie L. Bratcher allegedly attempting to whip up a batch of meth in the restaurant, the Associated Press reports.

The shift manager, who lives in Cape Girardeau, has been charged with second-degree burglary and an attempt to manufacture a controlled substance.

"The health department is making them [Sonic employees] throw away everything from sugar packets and straws to food and making them thoroughly clean the facility," Cape Girardeau police Sgt. Jason Selzer told Slashfood on Friday.

Police said that Bratcher had worked the night shift and then came back after the restaurant had closed. Officers rushed to the scene when the burglar alarm was triggered and found the 27-year old inside, wearing his Sonic uniform.

"This is one of the most unusual places we've run into this," Cape Girardeau police spokesman Jason Selzer told television station KFVS.

Christi Woodworth, Sonic's director of external communications, told Slashfood that the department of health had closed the drive-in on Thursday, but that it was scheduled to reopen this afternoon. A Cape Girardeau Sonic employee confirmed that they reopened at 11:45 a.m. CST.

Two employees reached at the Sonic wouldn't comment to Slashfood about Bratcher or the arrest.

"The management of the drive-in is fully cooperating with the police investigation into this incident," Woodworth says. "Because this is a criminal matter, we are unable to discuss the situation to avoid possibly interfering with the ongoing police investigation. This is a very unpleasant situation and we regret the effect this may have had on our employees or our loyal customers."

Woodworth emphasized to that Bratcher was a shift manager -- not the general manager of the drive-in.

"He has worked for the drive-in for less than a year and his employment has been terminated," she said.

Police found chemicals used to make methamphetamine on the restaurant's floor, including lithium and Sudafed.

Bratcher is being held on $30,000 bail and has a previous criminal record, according to reports. He was convicted of felony burglary in 2000.

Have you ever seen any funny business at your local fast-food restaurant? Let us know in the comments below.

Filed Under: Fast Food, News
Tags: arrest, drug charges, DrugCharges, methamphetamine, sonic, sonic drive-in, SonicDrive-in

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

12-11-2009 @5:06PM rainey Smith said... Meth couldn't be any worse than the other crap they serve at Sonic. Might not be any unhealthier either.

Worst, most greasy food i've ever had. And I couldn't even bring myself to try any of those neon colored liquid concoctions that looked like jello powder dissolved in 7Up. Yuck!!!
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12-15-2009 @11:49AM Blhomesales said... HELLO!!!!! Have thee peple ever heard of background checks..... When I was a district manager for a pizza chain (many years ago) we made all potential management candidates undergo a DOJ background and criminal history check due to the fact that they would be handling all the nights cash, etc.
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12-15-2009 @11:19AM el bitre said... THAT CROWNS IT FOR ME.THE ONLY GOOD THING WAS STRAWBERRY SHAKES.HERE ON IN THEY'RE DOG MEAT.I WILL RUN THE WORD TO THE PUERTO RICAN UNDERGROUND.THE CHINQUES ARE IN ON THIS.
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12-15-2009 @11:32AM wtilton67 said... There is nothing wrong with Sonic Burgers. The employee was the one that was doing something stupid and fortunately got caught doing it.

I wonder if he asked the Drive-thru folks "Would you like meth with that hamburger" instead of Fries.

Like I said the Employee was the stupid one. Sonic's food is as good as most of the other Fast Food places.
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12-15-2009 @11:50AM Sam said... Good job for the police dept.,STUPID METH HEADS> Hope they catch them all..
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12-15-2009 @11:57AM boosted16v said... I wonder if you can get a 8ball on texas toast?
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12-15-2009 @12:48PM hookmrl said... no wonder last time I ate there I wanted 12 hamburgers
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12-15-2009 @1:47PM Nico Toscani said... Doing criminal background checks on new, hourly employees in a fast food environment (with its extremely high turn over rate) is not cost effective. The companies that perform these checks charge around $30 per potential employee. Even if they say they are doing background checks on the application, they usually don't.
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12-16-2009 @12:50AM Nico Toscani said... Ummm...wrong drug, hop head... LOL...
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12-15-2009 @8:09PM pam said... The Sonic in Zephyrhills FL never has whatever I order - no ice cream one time, no fries one time, no burgers one time. It has to be a drug place fronted by a Sonic.
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12-15-2009 @8:36PM el bitre said... BLHHOMESALES,...,THIS GUY WAS CLEAN AS A NEWBORN BABE WHEN HE STARTED TO WORK THERE.THE JOB DROVE HIM TO A LIFE OF CRIME.
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