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Teacher's Water Tainted, Police Say

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By LISA A. DAVIS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 4, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - When 15-year-old Roberto Jesus Ortiz spiked his teacher's bottled water with Visine on Friday, the result wasn't the gut-buster he anticipated, according to a police report.

'He thought it would be funny if the victim got sick because he does not like the class or her,' School Resource Officer Derrick Thivener wrote in his report Tuesday.

Instead, the so-called joke backfired. Ortiz of 7146 Maclura Drive was arrested at the dropout prevention school he attends on a felony charge of poisoning food or water.

Police and school officials wouldn't release the instructor's name or what course she teaches.

'We're cooperating fully with law enforcement,' said Schwettman Education Center Principal Mimi Foster, declining to comment further.

School officials started hearing rumors shortly after the colorless, odorless eye drops were put into the instructor's water, city police Lt. Jeffrey Harrington said. Students saw the act but apparently didn't immediately report it to school officials, he said.

By Monday, school staff had interviewed Ortiz and he reportedly acknowledged tainting the water.

It turns out the teacher never drank it. 'She was just quite fortunate that she didn't,' Harrington said Wednesday.

It wasn't clear how much Visine was put in the water.
Visine or any other eye drops designed to relieve redness contain hydrochloride, among other ingredients, and can cause much more than intestinal distress, said JoAnn Chambers-Emerson, a registered nurse and educator for the Florida Poison Information Center at Tampa General Hospital.

'You could die from respiratory depression or shock,' she said. 'It makes your blood pressure go down very low.'

A person's breathing could become shallow to the point of stopping. Ingesting the over-the-counter medication also could lead to a stroke, she said.

The risk of a fatal reaction depends on the person's health, size and how much of the eye drops are swallowed, among other factors, Chambers-Emerson added.

Pfizer's warning about its Visine-A drops states: 'Keep out of reach of children. If swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away. Accidental swallowing by infants and children may lead to coma and marked reduction in body temperature.'

Ortiz's great-aunt, Ramonita Martinez of New Port Richey, said Wednesday he's lucky his teacher didn't become ill.

'Where he got the Visine, we don't know,' Martinez said. 'He's a good kid. I don't know how he's gotten in trouble.'

It's not the first time, though, she said. Juvenile records are sealed but Martinez said her great-nephew was arrested a few years ago after having a knife at school.

Ortiz appeared before a judge in Pasco juvenile court Wednesday and will spend 21 days in the Juvenile Assessment Center in Land O' Lakes, Martinez said.

'That's going to be hard on him,' she said. 'It's almost a month.'

Ortiz told her another boy put him up to it, Martinez said, but officials haven't said anyone else is involved. She also confirmed what police said: that he's not happy at Schwettman and that's why he did it.

'You know how kids are. They don't like nothing. If it's good, they don't like,' she said.

The school district also is investigating the case and will take 'appropriate action,' district spokeswoman Summer Robertson said.

FOR INFORMATION

Call the Florida Poison Information Center at 1-800-222-1222 or go online to www.fpicn.org.

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or ldavis@tampatrib.com.

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