Oklahoma woman stops at Arby’s for late night sandwich, unaware the restaurant manager allegedly planned to give her herpes

A McCurtain County woman says a late-night stop at an Arby’s drive-through led to a diagnosis she never expected. Jennica Church visited the Broken Bow, Oklahoma location on March 28, 2026, after finishing a bartending shift, according to a probable cause affidavit and a KJRH report.

Church said she ordered the “4 for $10” sandwich meal and noticed the order was taking longer than usual. She said she assumed staff were simply eager to close up for the night.

What Church reportedly did not know at the time was that the restaurant’s manager, Amanda Hendricks, allegedly spit into the food before it was handed over, according to surveillance footage cited in the affidavit filed by Broken Bow police officer Zane Mann.

Surveillance footage reportedly captured the incident at the sandwich counter

According to the affidavit, the investigation began on April 1, 2026, when Officer Mann received a walk-in report referencing an Arby’s worker spitting in a customer’s food. Mann stated he then made contact with Church, who described her March 28 visit to the restaurant.

Mann wrote that he contacted Arby’s to request video footage but was told a search warrant would be required. He stated he filed and served that warrant on April 16, and received footage covering 2200 to 2300 hours from the night of March 28.

Per the affidavit, at the 52-minute, 57-second mark of the footage, Hendricks is seen removing meat from a slicer, lifting it to neck level, leaning her head down, and allegedly allowing saliva to leave her mouth and land on the sandwich. It also states Hendricks then continued preparing the rest of the order before it was sent out.

Mann wrote that he contacted Hendricks on April 17 to request an interview, and she initially agreed to meet at the Broken Bow Police Department on April 18. According to the affidavit, Hendricks called the department that day and said she could not attend due to a lack of transportation. During that call, Mann stated, Hendricks said she knew he had the footage and was not going to waste his time, which he documented as an admission that she had done it.

Based on these findings, Mann requested a warrant on charges of adulterating food under Oklahoma statute 63-OS-1-1109 and assault and battery under 21-OS-644.B. Hendricks reportedly has since been charged with felony poisoning with intent to injure, a more serious charge than what appears in the affidavit, and that a warrant has been issued for her arrest.

Church told KJRH that after eating the sandwich, she also shared the food with her father-in-law and grandmother-in-law, who live with her, her husband, and her children. She said her mouth began to flare up afterward in a way it never had before, and a doctor later diagnosed her with herpes.

KJRH reported that because Broken Bow is a small town, word of the incident spread quickly, and that Hendricks had allegedly been telling others she had spit in Church’s food, a claim that reached Church through her daughter. Church and Hendricks reportedly had some prior history, though Church described it as nothing serious. “I love Arby’s – not anymore,” Church said.

Church and her family have filed a lawsuit against Hendricks, Arby’s, and its affiliated restaurant groups, according to KJRH. Lawsuits over food safety issues at fast-food chains aren’t unheard of, in one case, a Texas woman sued McDonald’s years after a purchase. 

Church told the outlet she is concerned about how the situation could affect her own work in the service industry going forward. “If I go out to eat and see someone with a big thing on their face, I don’t want them serving me food,” she said.

Patricia Dollarhite, Church’s mother-in-law, said the situation has affected her relationship with her husband, who also ate the food that night. “My son was sitting at my table, eating breakfast and he wanted a kiss, and he could not get one, so you bet I’m angry,” Dollarhite said. “I see what it’s doing to my grandchildren, my son, my husband. I don’t want to kiss my husband. He ate the food! Because he hasn’t had an outbreak, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have it.”

The family’s attorney, Will Blocker, told KJRH he was troubled that no other employees who allegedly witnessed the incident intervened. Other customers have reported similarly alarming discoveries, including a New Mexico woman who found something unexpected in a chicken tender that prompted talk of legal action.

“They let it go all the way out the door and my client now has a communicable disease,” Blocker said. “That has to be a culture deeper than Arby’s in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Maybe it’s Flynn Restaurant Group and all 300 stores they own. I don’t know, but we are going to find out.”