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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 9, 1993                   TAG: 9301090194
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: STATE  
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WOODSTOCK                                LENGTH: Short

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MOUSE-DROPPING PIZZA VERDICT YIELDS $16,000

A jury has awarded $16,000 in damages to two women and their children after they claimed pizza covered with mouse droppings made them ill.

"I thought the black droppings were caraway seeds," said Jeanne Dingus, one of the women. Upon closer inspection, "I realized they weren't caraway seeds. They were mouse droppings."

Dingus, 30, and Diane Pearce, 26, each filed $550,000 suit in Shenandoah Circuit Court against the owners and operators of the La Canasta restaurant. The jury on Thursday awarded each child $7,000 and each parent $1,000.

- Associated Press

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