Florida man poisons nephew’s meatball sandwich with eye drops

James Paul Leach, 45, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with one count of felony poisoning of food or water

James Paul Leach, 45, of Pinellas Park was accused of putting eye drops in his nephew’s meatball sandwich (Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office)

A Florida man has been accused of poisoning his nephew by putting eyedrops in his meatball sandwich, authorities said.

James Paul Leach, 45, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with one count of felony poisoning of food or water, according to Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office online booking records.

An arrest affidavit stated that Leach was arrested after a witness reported that Leach had poured eye drop solution “all over” his nephew’s meatball sandwich.

Pinellas Park Police Department said Leach allegedly asked for a bottle of Visine eyedrops while buying food the same day, WFLA-TV reported.

According to the arrest affidavit a witness at an unnamed business claimed that Leach “had issues with his nephew” and that he “hated him today,” the Tampa Bay Times reported.

The witness allegedly voiced concern that Leach’s nephew could become ill from ingesting the eye drops, to which the suspect allegedly responded it would only make the victim “(expletive) himself and puke his brains out,” according to the affidavit.

The unnamed witness then called police, who arrived after Leach’s nephew had eaten part of the sandwich, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Leach’s nephew refused medical treatment when police arrived before the suspect was taken into custody.

It comes after a similar incident in which a woman was found guilty of killing her friend with a deadly dose of eyedrops last month in Wisconsin.

Jessy Kurczewski, 39, was convicted on 14 November of one count of first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of theft of movable property less than $100,000 but more than $10,000, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.