Saturday, May 20, 2000
Teen held on suspicion of poisoning drinks
By Janice Morse
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — A 15-year-old girl is being held while police investigate a possible attempt to poison her stepmother with tainted lemonade.
A police report says the girl may have put motor oil into a one-gallon can of lemonade on Sunday, and family friends told police the girl had earlier put bleach into a liter bottle of Sprite for the family to drink “because she was upset.”
The 43-year-old stepmother told police that, at about 8 a.m. Sunday, her 3-year-old child awoke and asked for something to drink, so the woman poured a glass of lemonade for the child and for herself.
“She started to take a drink of the lemonade and that's when she noticed her
throat to be burning and it had a very strong, unusual odor for the lemonade,” a police report says.
The woman grabbed the 3-year-old and the container of lemonade, then left the house and called police. The woman told police “she was in fear for her safety and for the children.”
The lemonade is being tested at a laboratory to determine what, if any, foreign substance might be in it, Middletown Police Maj. Mike Bruck said Friday.
The girl was originally charged with assault, but could face other charges depending on the test results, Maj. Bruck said.
The girl's family members did not require medical treatment, he said.
A police report describes the girl as being “very argumentative and disruptive with officers.” She was placed in the Butler County Juvenile Detention Center on Monday, the evening after the alleged lemonade-spiking attempt, said Rob Clevenger, director of the Butler County Juvenile Court.
She was declared delinquent because she failed to follow a court order in connection with an earlier, unspecified juvenile court matter, and was ordered to remain in the detention center pending further possible charges, Mr. Clevenger said.
Dr. Harold Fishbein, professor of psychology at the University of Cincinnati, said it's not unusual for teens to feel rage against parents or stepparents. However, he said, “Our violent culture encourages young people to act on the enraged impulses that they have.”
Although the situation is very disturbing, “neither household bleach nor motor oil would be anticipated to cause serious medical problems,” said Karen Simone, hot line manager for the Cincinnati Drug & Poison Information Center, a service of Children's Hospital Medical Center.
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