Cops and the FBI are investigating whether a psycho deliberately contaminated bottles of spring water in three frightening Manhattan incidents over the last six weeks.
In two cases, ammonia was found.
In a third – and more chilling – case, a woman who ordered a bottle of Perrier at a Midtown restaurant was rushed to the hospital with a bleeding mouth. The water was found to be contaminated with lye.
Mayor Giuliani announced the investigation last night at a news conference called after The Post asked City Hall about the incidents.
The mayor cautioned against alarm, but he and Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik urged people to make sure they open bottles of water themselves – even in restaurants – and sniff the water before drinking.
Kerik said the FBI and the NYPD found “no real link,” but are trying to determine if someone used a needle to inject ammonia in two of the bottles, which were plastic.
The first incident occurred Aug. 3 at the Benihana restaurant on West 56th Street, cops said.
A woman who drank Perrier from a glass bottle suddenly felt her mouth burning. She spent several days in the hospital. Lye – a powerful household cleanser – was found in the water.
Cops suspect the lye came from the drinking glass, not the bottle, but aren’t sure because the bottle and the glass were thrown away.
The next incident was Aug. 27, when a man bought a bottle of Aquafina at the Seven Brothers Deli on Ninth Avenue near 48th Street and felt a burning sensation in his throat and smelled ammonia.
The man was treated at a hospital. Ammonia was in the water.
“I feel very sad that one of the waters was sold at my store,” said Mohammed Qaiz, the store owner.
“If you can’t trust the company that you buy it from, who can you trust?” said Qaiz. “I don’t buy the water from the street.”
The latest case was Sept. 6, when a woman gave her 18-month-old son a bottle of Poland Spring water from the Titanic Steak and Seafood Restaurant on Broadway at 139th Street.
The baby felt nauseated and started crying – and a strong ammonia smell was found in the bottle.