Houston Night Janitor Gets Six Years in Prison for Contaminating Office Workers' Water Bottles
Lucio Diaz, 53, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in a case involving urine-tainted water bottles at an east Houston office building.
By Kendra Konchanuk ·
A Houston man who admitted to contaminating water bottles at an office building where he worked as a cleaner has been sentenced to six years in state prison.
Lucio Diaz, 53, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to court records. Prosecutors dismissed the remaining cases against him the same day as part of a plea agreement. Diaz had been charged in 2022 with four counts of the offense. His defense attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.
Diaz worked as a night janitor at an office building in east Houston. In the summer of 2022, people in the building began to complain about a smell of urine. According to a lawsuit that nine women filed in 2023 against Diaz, his employers and his supervisors, a hidden camera recorded him either urinating into a water bottle or rubbing his genitals on the inside of one.
The case began when one woman grew suspicious that someone was tampering with her drinking water. She had stopped using the office water cooler and switched to her own bottle. A few days later, the bottle developed a bad smell for no clear reason, so she threw it away and brought a new one to work.
Soon afterward, a co-worker noticed that the water in the new bottle was turning yellow. The woman had the water tested for urine, and the result was positive. She then arranged to place a camera, which captured the footage later cited in the lawsuit.
According to police, one of the women tested positive for herpes simplex virus type 1. Court records state that Diaz was identified after his arrest as having herpes simplex virus type 1 and chlamydia. The women later joined a group of people who accused Diaz of giving them a sexually transmitted disease.
When officers confronted Diaz, he reportedly confessed to touching the bottle inappropriately. Court records say he told investigators he had urinated in water bottles at the office and placed his genitals inside them for eight months. He described his actions as having "malicious intent" and called them a "sickness." He also said he did not know how many times he had done it and claimed he was unaware of any diseases he might have.
The civil lawsuit against Diaz and his employers remained active as of Thursday.
Source: Houston Chronicle
