A Texas custodian is facing charges after a Black co-worker accused him of urinating in her water bottle and giving her an incurable sexually transmitted disease (STD).
The victim, who wished to remain anonymous, works at a family-owned physician's office in East Houston. She told KHOU 11 that she noticed her water bottles smelling foul and having a strange taste every time she took a drink.
The Black woman explained that she would leave her water bottle at work if she didn't finish it. At first, she suspected there was something wrong with the office's water dispenser and purchased a disposable bottle of water. She usually leaves her water bottles at her job overnight.
One day in September, a co-worker asked to make the victim some coffee, and the victim requested they use the water on her desk. The co-worker then asked her why the water was yellow.
“I felt disgusted," she said. “I raised it to my face, smelled it, and it smelled like urine.”
A doctor in the office performed a urinalysis on the water, confirming the horrifying suspicions and suspecting the custodian, who's identified as Lucio Catarino Diaz in court documents.
The victim set up a hidden camera in her office, and it allegedly caught Diaz rubbing his genitals on her water bottle, according to court records. The employee called Houston police the next day and provided two water bottles as evidence. Lab results confirmed the victim tested positive for the STD, which she didn't have before the incident, documents say.
Diaz reportedly confessed to the crimes when confronted by officers, calling it a "sickness." The custodian also told cops he did something similar at his previous job and doesn't remember how many times he's committed these disgusting acts. Diaz alleges he didn't know he had an STD, and he tested positive for the same one as the victim, according to records.
He was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, but that's not the end of the story. Eleven other potential victims claim Diaz did the same thing to them, authorities say. They're currently being tested for STDs as well.
As for the victim who initially exposed him, she plans on filing a lawsuit against building management and others who allegedly ignored her complaints.
“It’s really just disgusting and my client will suffer the consequences of this man’s action for the rest of her life,” Kim Spurlock, the victim's attorney, told reporters.
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