Woman arrested for attempted poisoning at Starbucks

ajc.com

San Jose police arrested a woman for attempted poisoning after she placed two harmful beverages inside a cooler at a Starbucks, police said.

A Starbucks manager told police a woman entered the coffee shop and was seen by another customer removing two bottles of orange juice from a bag and placing them on a shelf with other refrigerated items, according to San Jose police spokesman Jason Dwyer.

As the customer informed the employees of the suspicious activity, the woman fled the store, authorities said.

The employees examined the bottles and found that the contents had a toxic smell to them.

The San Jose Fire Department responded to the scene, retrieved the bottles and tested the contents with hazardous materials equipment.

The bottles were found to contain a mixture of orange juice and rubbing alcohol, Dwyer said.

Authorities said one of the Starbucks employees was able to take down the woman's license plate number as she fled the scene.

Officers conducted follow up investigation and at 8:30 p.m.  found  the suspect at her residence in the 5800 block of Chambertin Drive in South San Jose, Dwyer said.

After further investigation, officers placed the suspect under arrest.

Police said investigation is on-going and the suspect will likely be booked for attempted poisoning.

The suspect is believed to have acted alone and this is believed to be an isolated incident, officials said.

No injuries were reported.

The suspect’s motive remains under investigation.

No further information was available.