New Castle Man Arrested for Putting a Chemical in a Co-Worker’s Beverage

On December 30, 2019, Newark Police arrested Curtis Malloy, 50, of New Castle for one count of Adulteration.  The arrest closes a nearly nine-month long investigation into a report that a chemical had been placed by one co-worker into another co-worker’s beverage.

On April 10, 2019, a female victim reported that she had been in a recent argument with a co-worker at a business in the 300 block of Markus Court in Newark.  She reported that she did not get along with the co-worker and she suspected that he had poured a chemical into her beverage at her workstation.  The victim reported that when she went to drink a beverage she had at her workstation, she thought it smelled like Pine-Sol cleaning solution.  The victim did not drink the beverage at that time.  She reported to police that she suspected that the co-worker had been tampering with her food and drinks for an extended period of time.  The beverage was seized and an investigation was launched by a Detective from the Newark Police Department Criminal Investigations Division.

The Detective interviewed co-workers and obtained video surveillance from the business.  This information provided evidence of Malloy’s presence at the victim’s workstation at times when he should not have been there.  Malloy resigned his employment after this incident occurred.

The seized beverage was analyzed by the Pennsylvania State Police Harrisburg Regional Crime Lab and found to contain Isopropyl Alcohol, which is consistent with a chemical in Pine-Sol.

On December 26, 2019, a warrant was obtained charging Malloy with one count of Adulteration, a felony.

On December 30, 2019, Malloy turned himself in to Newark PD.  He appeared before Justice of the Peace Court #2 by video and was released on his own recognizance to appear in the New Castle County Court of Common Pleas at a later date.