Man charged with stealing food to feed UNC football team

Friday, December 15th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) _ A former grocery store manager has been charged with taking steaks, watermelons and other food to feed members of the University of North Carolina football team after victories.

Joseph Richard Pack, 37, is the former manager of a Winn-Dixie. He was charged with one count of embezzlement and was released from Durham County Jail on an unsecured $10,000 bond.

On Nov. 8, an off-duty Durham police officer working at the store said he saw Pack with a cart containing two large trays of steaks, five tubes of sausage, three boxes of block cheese, five large bags of corn chips, six bags of salad mix, one large tray of ground beef and several other items, according to a police report.

The price tags were missing from the steaks and ground beef. Pack didn't ring up the items and laughed when an employee asked if he had a receipt for them, police said.

Pack then pushed the grocery cart out the door and put the items in his car, police said.

Two employees told the officer that Pack was taking groceries to feed members of the UNC football team, according to the police report. One employee told police that he had seen Pack cook more than a dozen ribeye steaks in the store's bakery oven.

In addition, the employee told the officer that Pack ``took 50 watermelons out of the store during the summer and it was said they went to the UNC football team.''