Woman Arrested for Mixing a Lethal Screwdriver in Starbucks' OJ Cooler
Police arrested a woman Tuesday after she allegedly slipped two "tainted" bottles of orange juice into the drink fridge at a San Jose Starbucks. Authorities charged her with attempted murder, saying the bottles contained a "lethal dose" of rubbing alcohol. How much is that, exactly? Glad you asked.
Fifty-year-old Ramineh Behbehanian aroused a customer's attention when she was spotted allegedly taking two OJ bottles out of a bag and slipping them into the Starbucks display case:
The customer reported it to employees, according to police. The customer also got a license plate number, and investigators later traced the plate to Behbehanian's residence, Starbucks spokesman Zack Hutson said.
The employees immediately pulled the bottles of orange juice from the display case, and the store was evacuated until firefighters could determine the contents of the bottles, Hutson said.
A police spokesman told reporters: "According to our San Jose firefighters that were on scene and the fire captain there—they really are the experts there—it was a lethal dose."
Is that hyperbolic? Yes and no. According to the CDC, the "probable lethal oral dose" of isopropyl alcohol is about 190 grams, or a little more than enough to fill half a soda can, so it's entirely possible that a cheap drugstore bottle of of the stuff could turn two juices into widowmakers.
On the other hand, isn't it a bit unrealistic to argue that someone would have downed a bottle of OJ without noticing that much hooch (and spitting it across the room)? Maybe not. Millions of people apparently think Starbucks dark blend tastes normal, too. [CNN; Images via AP]