An Ohio couple is facing charges after police said they gave laxative-laced cookies to striking school employees.
Bo J. Cosens, 29, and Rachel D. Sharrock, 25, face several charges each, including contaminating a substance for human consumption, a first-degree felony.
Ulrichsville police received a tip reporting Facebook video in which Cosens and Sharrock comment about striking Claymont City Schools employees on their street, The Canton Repository reported. Drivers were honking in support of the employees, and Cosens and Sharrock allegedly said in the video they were getting tired of the noise.
“There’s a lot of rant about OAPSE (Ohio Association of Public School Employees) members protesting on Trenton Avenue,” Ulrichsville police Sgt. Michael Hickman said. “He (Cosens) had made threats towards them. He mentioned also that he was going to get a gun and shoot them, and in the video as well, there was an apparent drug transaction that took place on Facebook live during this video.”
The video also allegedly shows Cosens and Sharrock discussing giving the workers cookies with laxatives in them. Sharrock can be seen crushing up laxative pills and putting them in cookie dough, Hickman said.
The tainted cookies were delivered to the striking employees, but Hickman said none were eaten. Police are looking for a lab that will be able to confirm the presence of laxatives in the cookies.
"We are a very close community, and it's sad to me that somebody would be that angry about something like this, that they try to hurt somebody," striking school secretary Shannon Tarbert told WJW-TV. "And one of our kids could have eaten those cookies, and that's what's scary."
Cosens and Sharrock are in the Tuscarawas County Jail, each on a $1 million bond, WJW-TV reported.
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