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Police: Janitor used floor cleaner to poison boss’s drink

Posted at 10:05 PM, Sep 02, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-02 22:09:15-04

TAVARES, Fla. (AP) — A Florida high school janitor has been charged with poisoning his boss’s drink with a floor wax remover.

Lake County Sheriff’s officials charged Russell Terrence Smith on Friday with poisoning food.

Authorities said in a news release that head custodian Jackie Rocket-Smart Hansell told them she and Smith had been at odds over her recent promotion. Hansell left a soda on her desk and walked away. When she returned, she took a big sip and said it burned her throat.

Hansell was hospitalized Monday, but her condition wasn’t released.

Citing an arrest affidavit, the Orlando Sentinel reported that Smith said he thought Hansell poisoned her drink herself.

No one responded immediately to a message left with the sheriff’s office Friday.