Beyond Meat (BYND) shares moved lower Wednesday trading after the plant-based food group suspended a senior executive following his arrest for a violent incident over the weekend.
Chief operating officer Doug Ramsey was arrested in Fayetteville, Arkansas following media reports that he was involved in an altercation in the parking garage of the University of Arkansas' football stadium.
Ramsey, 53, who joined the group in December of last year following a three-decade career at Tyson Foods (TSN), is alleged to have punched through the window of the victim's SUV, and bitten the man's nose, during the Saturday incident.
He was reportedly release from jail on Sunday, after posting a $12,000 bond.
"Doug Ramsey, chief operating officer, has been suspended effective immediately,' the company said in a brief statement late Tuesday. "Operations activities will be overseen on an interim basis by Jonathan Nelson, senior vice president, manufacturing operations."
Beyond Meat shares were marked 1.68% lower in pre-market trading to indicate an opening bell price of $15.76 each.
Last month, Beyond Meat lowered its full-year sales forecast by around $100 million and unveiled sweeping headcount reductions and job cuts following a disappointing second quarter loss of $1.53 per share.
The group is looking to cut around 4% of its global workforce, while trimming overall costs, as it seeks to mitigate both the impact of higher food price inflation and a pullback in discretionary spending that has seen shoppers flock to value-based grocery chains such as Kroger (KR) and Walmart (WMT).
Beyond Meat has also expanded its plant-based chicken products to various CVS (CVS), Albertsons (ACI) and Whole Foods (AMZN) locations while prepping the introduction of Beyond Burger and Beyond Meatballs to 2,000 different U.S. stores.
Earlier this year, McDonald's (MCD) said it would expand the test market for Beyond Meat's plant-based burger starting in February, offering it at round 600 test locations in U.S.-based restaurants, mostly in and around San Francisco and Dallas.
