Police Question Syringe Finding : Van Nuys: Woman says she was jabbed by a hypodermic needle in a soda can. Authorities say the report may be a hoax.

A report by a Van Nuys woman who claimed that she was jabbed in the gums Monday by a hypodermic needle in a can of Diet Coke was being treated as a possible hoax by Los Angeles police.

Police said Debra Uyeka, 24, walked into the West Valley division police station with an open can of the soda that contained a small syringe. Uyeka, who is deaf and mute, wrote a report to officers saying that she bought the can the day before at a Dale’s Junior Market in the 16900 block of Vanowen Street in Van Nuys and discovered the needle after opening it and taking a swallow Monday morning.

“She noticed the liquid didn’t taste right and that there was a syringe inside the can,” Officer Francine Spada said. “Although Ms. Uyeka indicated the needle from the syringe slightly punctured her gums while she was drinking from the can, she sustained no injuries.”

Uyeka’s reported discovery of the hypodermic needle was similar to two made last week in the Seattle area where syringes were found in cans of Diet Pepsi. But by Monday afternoon Los Angeles detectives said they were skeptical of the local report and investigating the possibility that it was a hoax staged by Uyeka.

“She has made reports with the Police Department before and in at least one of those incidents the information she gave was completely erroneous,” Detective Joel Price said. “Her credibility is questionable.”

Price declined to reveal the circumstances of the previous cases involving Uyeka. He said investigators stopped short of calling the syringe report a hoax because they had been unable to locate Uyeka to question her.

Meantime, soda from the can will be analyzed to determine if it contains contaminants, Price said.

Ray Warfield, a spokesman for the 10-store Dale’s Junior Market chain, said Uyeka’s report prompted the local Coca-Cola distributor, the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Sylmar, to exchange all the soda in the Coca-Cola display case at the Vanowen store for new stock.

“They’re going to analyze that batch, and they’ll find out whether it was true or not,” Warfield said of the tampering complaint. “Then we’ll go from there.”

Joe Olivera, an assistant manager at the Vanowen store, said Uyeka came into the store Monday after making the police complaint. He initially thought that she was trying to make a routine complaint about receiving a flat soda.

“I tried to figure out what was wrong,” said Olivera, who added that Uyeka waved a note in front of him that said she had filed a police report. “I tried to get her another Coke and by the time I got a note pad and turned back around, she was gone.”

Coca-Cola executives declined to comment at length until the police investigation is completed.

“We are working very closely with the investigators,” said Bob Phillips, a spokesman in Los Angeles for the Coca Cola Corp. in Atlanta. “The safety of our product is the most important thing to us.”

Phillips and Price said it was unlikely that the syringe could have been placed inside the can before it was sealed at the Sylmar plant that distributes Diet Coke to the Dale’s Junior Market and other outlets throughout the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys. The cans are cleaned twice and then filled while upside down in a machine at a rate of 2,000 per minute, Phillips said.

Price, who is the West Valley division expert on product tampering, said it was virtually impossible for the syringe to have been placed in the can before it was sealed at the plant.

He said that if Uyeka’s complaint is determined to be a hoax, she could be charged with making a false police report.

Last week, syringes were reportedly found inside cans of Diet Pepsi opened by consumers in Tacoma on Wednesday and in Federal Way, a suburb between Seattle and Tacoma, on Friday.

On Sunday, the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers in four states--Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii--and Guam to examine cans of Diet Pepsi and pour the soda into a glass before drinking.

Times staff writer Julie Tamaki contributed to this story.