A man from Pinellas Park was accused of trying to make his nephew sick by putting eye drops in his sandwich.
The Pinellas Park Police Department received a report stating that a regular customer had asked for a bottle of Visine eye drops while buying food at an unspecified business on Wednesday.
The witness informed the police that the customer, later identified as James Leach (45), mentioned having issues with his nephew and expressing dislike for him that day. As per the report, after receiving the eye drops, Leach opened the bottle and poured the solution all over the meatball sandwich.
“The witness stated that could hurt someone and the defendant responded by saying that it would only cause him (referring to the victim) to ‘s— himself and puke his brains out’,”the arrest report stated.
According to the article, Pinellas Park police examined security footage from the establishment and found that Leach could be seen “taking the bottle of eye solution and pouring on the sandwich.” After getting Leach’s address from the company files, police visited his residence.
Leach’s nephew informed the police that he ate a small portion of the sandwich without realizing it might have been messed with. The police mentioned that he declined medical assistance.
“The victim and defendant have a long history of domestic related issues and several prior calls for service at this location,” the arrest report stated.
Leach faced charges for contaminating food or water and was taken to Pinellas County Jail. He’s currently held on a $50,000 bond.
