Ohio parents say cook gave 2-year-old rice wine

Ohio parents say cook gave 2-year-old rice wine

CANTON, Ohio (AP) — Authorities in northeast Ohio say a restaurant cook has been charged with serving alcohol to a minor after squirting some sake into the mouth of a 2-year-old boy.

The parents of Karl Preusser Jr. tell WJW-TV it happened Friday night at a restaurant near Canton.

Brittany Winter says the tableside cook jokingly asked her son his age. He later offered guests some of the Japanese rice wine and squirted it into the youngster’s wide-open mouth.

The mother says her son started crying and said his mouth burned.

Police identified the cook as 26-year-old Mingyang Zhu of Canton. There is no phone listing for him at the address listed in court records and he couldn’t be reached.

The restaurant says it was a mistake.