Man accused of putting ‘superglue’ in co-worker’s soda

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    WEST ALLIS, Wisconsin (WISN) — A vendor working at the Wisconsin State Fair grounds is accused of putting superglue in his co-worker’s soda.

The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office has filed one felony count of placing foreign objects in edibles against Joseph Ross.

According to a criminal complaint, State Fair Park Police received a report on March 20 from a woman who said in the past couple of weeks, the drinks on her desk had a “strong chemical smell and taste,” and after she drank the beverages, she would get sick.

She told State Fair police she set up a surveillance camera to monitor her drink on her desk, and the camera caught her co-worker, Joseph Ross, putting something into her drink.

Police interviewed Ross, who admitted to placing a “supplement” into his co-worker’s Coca-Cola.

“The way I’m reading that is that it was an attempt to deceive the investigators while making an admission,” WISN 12 News legal expert Craig Mastantuono said regarding the mention of a supplement.

Police obtained a search warrant for Ross’ desk. According to the complaint, they found “clear protective gloves” and a superglue container and cap in the trash near Ross’ office.

The complaint contained still photos of the surveillance video appearing to show Ross putting something in the Coca-Cola can. The complaint also had photos of the gloves as well as the Gorilla Brand Super Glue. Detectives noted the glue had a warning to “keep out of the reach of children” due to the harm of ingestion.

“I’m in the nothing-is-ever-unusual business, but you don’t see this a lot,” Mastantuono said. “This is a statute that is not typically charged because there’s not a lot of instances where police or the authorities catch somebody putting something in someone’s drink.”

Investigators said they sent the soft drink to the Wisconsin Crime Lab for testing. The criminal complaint did not mention a motive.

Ross will be back in Milwaukee County Court on April 3 for a preliminary hearing.

A spokesperson for Wisconsin State Fair park released the following statement in response to the incident.

The two individuals involved were employed by a vendor and were not State Fair Park employees, therefore, we cannot comment on employment status. However, since this incident occurred while at State Fair Park, our police department responded, conducted a thorough investigation, and submitted the report to the District Attorney. Additionally, our police department has issued a ‘No Trespass Order’ to the individual being charged.

While this incident did not happen between State Fair Park employees and did not involve any patrons, we want to reiterate that safety is top priority at State Fair Park, and we take these matters very seriously.

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