Man who tampered with food at Phoenix-area Target, Walgreens stores sentenced

Man accused of tampering with food items at Target sentenced in Arizona

A man who tampered with food at several Target and Walgreens stores in the Phoenix area has been sentenced to seven years of supervised probation in Arizona after reaching a plea deal.

PHOENIX - A man who tampered with food at several Target and Walgreens stores in the Phoenix area has been sentenced to seven years of supervised probation in Arizona after reaching a plea deal.

David Lohr was arrested back in October of 2018 after he poured bleach or hydrogen peroxide on food in the freezer section of Target and Walgreens locations in Tempe, Scottsdale, Phoenix and Chandler.

After he was released from custody, federal authorities say he went to California and committed similar food tampering crimes there.

He was sentenced in October 2021 to 51 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised probation.

No one was hurt in any of these cases, but Lohr was ordered to pay $390.42 in restitution to Target and undergo a mental health evaluation as part of his plea agreement in Arizona.

The allegations

According to authorities, Lohr poured hydrogen peroxide into store freezers filled with food for sale. Chandler Police records indicate the incident has happened at least three different times at a Target store on Frye Road.

Lohr spoke from jail back in 2018 with FOX 10. The man, who claims he owns a roofing company in the Houston area, said he is not from Arizona, but was in the Valley on vacation.

"I didn't do anything wrong," said Lohr, in a phone interview. "I committed no crime. Absolutely no crime."

Lohr was asked about the pouring of chemicals, and offered a strange explanation that he was trying to remove "invisible chemicals" from the freezer case.

"Because stores security is using invisible chemicals," said Lohr. "It was one bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide. It was off their shelf from the Target. It makes the chemicals go away. I put it in the bottom of the cooler, so it was not in the food. It was not on top of the food in any way, so it had no contact with any food."

When asked whether he was planning to buy certain items, Lohr ended the interview.

"At this point, the conversation is over," said Lohr. "That's not a real question."