CBS News Law Enforcement Source: Subway's Jared Fogle Suspect In Child Porn Investigation
ZIONSVILLE, Ind. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A law enforcement source said Subway restaurant spokesman Jared Fogle is a suspect in a child pornography investigation, CBS News reported.
FBI agents and Indiana State Police raided Fogle's home on Tuesday, removing electronics from the property and searching the house with a police dog.
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FBI Special agent Wendy Osborne said the FBI was conducting an investigation in Zionsville, an affluent Indianapolis suburb, but wouldn't say whether it involved Fogle or describe the nature of the investigation.
Fogle, wearing tan shorts and a dark T-shirt, was photographed early Tuesday by The Indianapolis Star stepping out of a police evidence van parked outside his home.
Subway pitchman Jared Fogle led by FBI from evidence truck in driveway of his Zionsville home: criminal investigation pic.twitter.com/tD5cFwe2ss
— Charlie Nye (@CharlieNyePhoto) July 7, 2015
Late Tuesday morning an armed officer with a badge on his belt briefly stepped outside Fogle's house wearing a blue T-shirt reading, "U.S. Postal Inspector Police,'' then went back inside.
Fogle, 37, became the Subway restaurant chain's pitchman after shedding 245 pounds more than 15 years ago, in part by regularly eating Subway sandwiches. Subway began featuring Fogle in commercials soon after, and his story was instrumental in giving the sandwich chain an image as a healthy place to eat.
He has since worked to create awareness of childhood obesity through his Jared Foundation. Calls to Fogle's home went unanswered Tuesday.
WTHR-TV and The Indianapolis Star reported Fogle was detained while electronics were removed from the home and analyzed inside a mobile forensics van Tuesday morning.
Neighbors said the family entertained frequently and would say hello but that they didn't see Fogle and his wife outside a lot.
Jacob Schrader, 19, who lives across from Fogle's house, said the pitchman seems "like a pretty private guy'' and that he'd only seen him about a dozen times in the last five or six years.
"He's like an endangered species or something like that,'' Schrader said.
Subway issued a statement saying, "We are shocked about the news and believe it is related to a prior investigation of a former Jared Foundation employee. We are very concerned and will be monitoring the situation closely. We don't have any more details at this point."
In May, federal prosecutors in Indianapolis charged 43-year-old Russell Taylor with seven counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. Taylor is the former head of the Jared Foundation.
As CBS2's Dick Brennan reported, Fogel said then that he was shocked by the charges and was severing ties to Taylor.
Subway, which is based in Milford, Connecticut, and is privately held, has struggled in recent years. Last year, industry tracker Technomic said average sales for Subway stores in the U.S. declined 3 percent from the previous year.
The company has about 44,000 locations around the world.
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