February 25,2006 | PITTSBURGH -- A woman who claimed she was trying to cheat on a drug test was behind a bizarre incident in which a frightened convenience store clerk thought she had microwaved a severed penis, police said.
The clerk at the store outside Pittsburgh actually microwaved a prosthetic device used to cheat on drug tests, police said Friday.
The incident unfolded late Thursday afternoon when a man and a woman entered the store and the man asked the clerk, "Can you microwave something for me? It's a life-or-death situation," according to an account the woman later gave police.
The man asked for paper towels, wrapped an object in them, and had the clerk microwave the item for 20 seconds, said McKeesport police Chief Joseph Pero.
When it was finished, the clerk handed the item back to the man and saw what she thought was a severed penis, Pero said.
After news reports Friday, a woman called police to say she was with the man in the store and gave her account of what happened, Pero said.
The woman told police she was applying for a job and was required to take a drug test. She said the man had filled the device with his urine, which she planned to submit for the test, Pero said.
According to the woman, the couple stopped to warm the device in the microwave so the urine would "pass the body temperature test," Pero said -- that is, be warm enough to not arouse the suspicion of those administering the test.
Pero said police weren't sure why the woman was storing the urine in a device mimicking male genitalia.
The woman wasn't applying for a job at the convenience store, but Pero said he didn't know anything else about the job.
The chief said the woman planned to come to the police station for an interview. Police Friday night said they had no new information and said the chief would have to answer any further questions on Monday.
Pero wouldn't release the names of the man or woman. Charges, including harassment and disorderly conduct, were possible, he said.
The clerk at the Giant Eagle Get Go! is "still visibly shaking," Pero said.
Giant Eagle, which owns the convenience store, said the microwave will be discarded.
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