A Shocking Case Of Workplace Betrayal In Texas, And Why You Should Never Leave Your Water Bottle Unattended

I've been reviewing some of the most notable criminal cases in recent years in Texas and came across a rather disturbing one that must have slipped below my radar in 2022. Did you ever read about the janitor who spread STDs to workers in a doctor's office? And, it wasn't through sex, no. It was much more sinister than that. 

The Janitor

Lucio Catarino Diaz was a janitor at a doctor’s office on Houston’s East Freeway. Inside the office, there was a shared area with one of those 5-gallon water dispensers—the kind that lets you choose hot or cold water. Staff and visitors used it regularly. It was a nice model, kind of like the one we have at our office that I use every morning. Honestly, I’ve never really thought twice about it—and you probably haven’t paid much attention to the one in your breakroom, either. That's all about the change.

On August 30th, 2022, an employee used the water dispenser in the doctor's office. She noticed there was a strange smell to it and a funny taste. When she realized the water seemed "sour," she dumped it out. From then on, she opted not to drink any water from the dispenser and brought her own water bottle from home.

Later in September of 2022, the same woman left her personal water bottle on her desk, half-filled with water, when she left work. A day or two later, she went to take a drink from the water bottle and noticed the same gross smell and taste that she had encountered at the office water dispenser. She poured out the water, threw the bottle away, and bought another water bottle.

One day, a co-worker in the office offered to pour her some coffee. She removed the cap from her water bottle and noticed there was a yellowish liquid in the bottle. She sniffed it and immediately realized it was urine.

The bottle was taken to an on-site physician who ran lab tests and discovered that the yellow liquid was indeed urine.

She shared her findings in the office with another coworker who had experienced similar strange occurrences, but with no office security cameras, they had no idea who the culprit was. She took matters into her own hands and purchased a small camera from Amazon, which she attached to her computer. It didn't take long before the motion detector alerted her to movement near the camera.

Gruesome Footage

The woman was shocked when she reviewed the footage, which showed the janitor, Lucio Catarino Diaza, uncapping her water bottle, unzipping his pants, placing his genitals in the bottle, urinating, recapping the bottle, and placing it back on her desk. What's worse is footage caught him repeating the disgusting act twice over several days.

Blood and urine samples from Diaz indicated he was positive for the herpes simplex 1 virus as well as hepatitis A, one of which is incurable.

Labwork found that three women in the office were infected with the same disease, spread from the janitor, who told police he had a "sickness" and had no idea how many times he had urinated in the drinking supply of the workers.

Diaz is eligible for parole after serving 3 years of his 6-year sentence. May he never be given free range near the water cooler or anyone's water bottles for the rest of his life. And, may this serve as a lesson to always take yours home at the end of the day. You never know what happens at work when the building locks up for the night.