A Wisconsin state fairgrounds employee was arrested recently and accused of spiking his coworker’s drink with super glue. The woman reported her Coca-Cola had a “strong chemical smell and taste,” and after she drank it, it made her sick. The man now faces one felony charge of placing foreign objects in edibles.
According to reports, the woman, identified in legal documents as “JH,” told her supervisors at the state park fairgrounds about her Coca-Cola’s funny taste and smell, and asked them to set up a surveillance camera because she suspected her drinks which she left out on her desk had been contaminated.
The footage reportedly showed 34-year-old Joseph Ross, her fairgrounds coworker, putting a “foreign substance” in her drink. He wore latex gloves and was seen squeezing drops from an orange and brown tube which turned out to be “Gorilla Brand Super Glue.” The gloves and the super glue were later found in Ross’s belongings.
JH turned the footage over to Wisconsin police, and Ross was arrested. If convicted, he could spend up to 3 1/2 years in prison and pay a $10,000 fine. He’s expected to appear in court on April 3.
When interviewed, Ross reportedly told police he put a “supplement” in JH’s drink. Reports say an official motive for the contamination was not mentioned in legal documents.
“The nothing-is-ever-unusual business”
Referring to the strange case, Milwaukee’s WISN legal analyst, Craig Mastantuono, said, “I’m in the nothing-is-ever-unusual business, but you don’t see this a lot.” Felony placing a foreign object in something edible charges, Mastanuono added, “is not typically charged because there’s not a lot of instances where police or the authorities catch somebody putting something in someone’s drink.”
Referring to Ross’s arrest Wisconsin State Fair Park officials released a statement which read, “The two individuals involved were employed by a vendor and were not State Fair Park employees, therefore, we cannot comment on employment status. However, since this incident occurred while at State Fair Park, our police department responded, conducted a thorough investigation, and submitted the report to the District Attorney. Additionally, our police department has issued a ‘No Trespass Order’ to the individual being charged.”
The statement added, “While this incident did not happen between State Fair Park employees and did not involve any patrons, we want to reiterate that safety is top priority at State Fair Park, and we take these matters very seriously.”
In case you’re wondering, Gorilla Brand Super Glue carries a warning to keep it out of the reach of children and that it should not be ingested.
Meanwhile, the Wisconsin case is just the latest reason you’ll want to rethink leaving beverages unattended on your desk. Just a few weeks before the super glue story broke, a Houston janitor was sentenced to six years in prison, convicted of urinating in water bottles at the medical office where he worked, after a security camera caught him in the act.
The man, Lucio Diaz, has incurable herpes simplex 1 virus and hepatitis A, which some of the women who drank from the contaminated water bottles caught. Diaz reportedly called his motivation for doing what he did a “sickness.”
Published: Mar 27, 2025 02:24 pm