Overview
- On July 29, North Providence police charged 29-year-old Alessio D’Andrea with felony poisoning for allegedly putting methanol-based windshield wiper fluid in a coworker’s Gatorade bottle.
- Two colleagues witnessed D’Andrea refill the empty bottle and leave it in the shared refrigerator at the Department of Public Works on June 27.
- The coworker drank the tainted beverage, was hospitalized for about 36 hours and continues to experience lingering effects from methanol exposure.
- D’Andrea remains on unpaid suspension and is also awaiting trial on federal firearms charges after ATF agents found 27 guns and unregistered silencers in his home in 2023.
- Human Resources Director Josh Hernandez said there was no background check when D’Andrea was hired in June 2024 and is probing why witnesses did not report the contamination immediately.