Texas mom allegedly mixed drink to give to her son's bully, officials say
A Texas woman allegedly sent her child to school with a mixed drink in order to prevent bullies from stealing from her son, resulting in a student being hospitalized, officials said.
The Austin American-Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network, is not naming the woman to protect the identity of the child.
Here's what we know:
What happened?
The woman, 45, allegedly combined lemon, salt and vinegar inside a sports bottle, according to the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. The contents were nontoxic, but a child who drank the mixed beverage was hospitalized. A school official said the drink was confiscated after the incident.
What started the incident?
According to an arrest warrant obtained by CBS News, an 11-year-old student from Legacy Traditional School - Alamo Ranch in San Antonio allegedly stole a drink belonging to the woman's son on Monday. After the woman learned of the incident, she allegedly planned to mix a drink to prevent her son's drink from being stolen by other students at school. Deputies learned that a classmate gave the student the laced drink during P.E. class.
More: Stricter anti-bullying in schools rules ahead? Here's what Texas lawmakers propose.
What happened to the sick child?
The child took a sip of the drink and immediately spat it out because of the awful taste, according to CBS News. Although the drink was nontoxic, the student had a headache and felt nauseated after drinking the mixture and had to be hospitalized, officials said. The student has since been discharged from the hospital and is doing well, officials said.
What was the mother charged with?
The woman was arrested and charged with injury to a child causing bodily injury.
The woman told officials that she was a nurse and knew that the mixture she made was nontoxic, according to the arrest warrant.
"Whether the allegations of bullying at the root of this situation are substantiated or not, there is never an excuse to take matters into your own hands and injure a child," Sheriff Javier Salazar told USA TODAY in a statement.
— USA TODAY reporter Sarah Al-Arshani contributed to the report.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas woman arrested after allegedly mixing drink for school bully
