7-Eleven store owner arrested after 4 boys were burned by sanitizer

Police arrest a 7-Eleven owner in New Jersey after allegedly selling spray sanitizer that burned several children.

47-year-old Manisha Bharade has been charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child and deceptive business practices.

The River Vale Police Department went on the store on Riverdale Road after receiving information via social media that four boys, three 10-year-olds, and 11-year-old had encountered burns after using hand sanitizer purchased at the 7-Eleven.

Police say that Bharade had mixed commercially available foaming sanitizer, which was not meant for resale, with water and packaged it in aftermarket bottles to be sold at the 7-Eleven.

Apparently a chemical reaction from the mixture caused the burns.

Authorities from Bergan County say a total of 14 bottles were sold at the store. Five bottles have been turned over to the River Vale Police Department and nine bottles are unaccounted for at the moment. They have issued an alert for people who may have bought some of the other containers.

Further analysis would be conducted to determine the exact make-up of the chemical mixture.

The Division of Consumer Affairs has also opened an investigation store’s practices regarding the sales and promotion of health and sanitation products since the emergence of the coronavirus outbreak.