Campbell man induces panic at Struthers grocery store

Staff report

STRUTHERS

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Campbell man accused of inducing panic by creating an Ebola scare in a Struthers grocery store.

Stephen Lind, an employee at the Save-a-Lot on Fifth Street, alarmed his co-workers Oct. 18 when he claimed he “believed he had Ebola,” said Struthers police officer Joseph Patton.

According to a police report, Lind told his co-workers that he had contact with his neighbor who is “best friends with the female nurse from Texas” who had Ebola.

Nick Mark, Save-a-Lot’s assistant manager on duty that night, said both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and police were notified.

Amanda Noel, a worker at the store, said she was “horrified” when Lind claimed to have Ebola. She said all store workers were in a panic.

Lind was transported to St. Elizabeth Health Center that evening. Police reported the next morning that Lind did not contract the Ebola virus and that it was all a “hoax.”

Lind did not appear in Struthers Municipal Court Monday as originally scheduled. Police issued Lind an arrest warrant for “inducing panic” at the Save-a-Lot.

“I’m not sure if Lind is terminated from working at any Save-a-Lot store, but I know that he is restricted from even stepping foot on the premises of this store,” Mark said. He added that Lind had been an employee for only about one week.