"Bizarre Caretaker Urinates in Employee's Water Bottle, Turns Water Yellow"

Houston Hospital Building Manager Arrested for Sexual Assault and Aggravated Assault
Victims File Civil Lawsuit Against Building Owner and Management Company

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] A hospital building custodian in the United States has been charged with a bizarre crime of putting his urine into employees' water bottles.

According to foreign media including the New York Post on the 21st (local time), Lucio Catarino Diaz (50), a hospital building custodian in Houston, Texas, was arrested on charges of sexual assault and aggravated assault. His criminal acts were revealed at the end of August. The victim, Ms. A (54, female), noticed a foul smell coming from the water in the office and began buying bottled water from outside. Ms. A would leave water on her desk for the next day if she did not finish it during work hours, but soon she noticed a smell coming from the water she left. A colleague who observed Ms. A’s water said, "The water is yellow and smells like urine."

After requesting a test on the liquid, Ms. A and her colleagues confirmed that urine was present in the water. To catch the culprit, they installed a hidden camera in the office. The footage captured was shocking. Diaz was seen unzipping his pants and urinating into the water bottle. To make matters worse, Diaz was infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STD), and Ms. A also contracted the same disease. There are 11 victims working in the same office, all of whom underwent STD testing. It is unknown whether other victims were infected.

During the police investigation, Diaz confessed, "I committed the crime with malicious intent," but he also excused himself by saying, "It is because of the illness." He claimed, "I really did not know I had an STD," and added, "I behaved similarly at my previous job where I worked for eight months, but I don't remember how many times."

Meanwhile, Ms. A and three other victims filed a civil lawsuit demanding over $1 million (approximately 1.4 billion KRW) in damages against the building owner, the management company, and the cleaning company that employed Diaz. The plaintiffs hold the owner and companies responsible for failing to properly investigate, train, and supervise Diaz. According to the complaint, the plaintiffs contacted the police and the building management company immediately after learning about the incident, but the management company delayed six days before informing all tenants of the situation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.