Lucio Diaz
Thirteen more people have stepped forward as victims after a janitor was allegedly caught peeing in a woman’s water bottle and exposing her to an STD, investigators said in a KTRK report.
This development marks another serious escalation in the criminal case against Lucio Catarino Diaz, 50. Right now, he’s only charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and indecent assault concerning one victim: a 54-year-old woman.
“He gave me an STD I will have for the rest of my life,” she previously told the outlet. “Nothing is going to change it. Nothing will make it better for me. In fact, I feel like, for the rest of my life, I will have to be careful.”
According to an affidavit from Houston police, she experienced a series of disturbing incidents at the medical office building where she worked. First, she noticed something unusual with the water from the standing water dispenser, officers said.
“Complainant stated the water she got from the water dispenser had a funny taste and smell to it,” authorities said. “Complainant stated because of the sour taste/smell, she dumped the water and threw her water bottle out. Complainant said because of what she experienced with the water dispenser; she started bringing her own water bottles in to drink.”
But when she brought her own bottles, she noted several days later that the personal bottle, which she left in her office, “smelled nasty, but she could not figure out what the smell was.” She threw it away and got another one, but on Sept. 22, a co-worker at a doctor’s office noticed the water inside was yellow. The 54-year-old woman checked and it smelled of pee, officers said. The doctor she worked for had it tested, and it returned positive for urine, police said.
According to cops, the woman set up a hidden camera in her office and she recorded Diaz the janitor in her office sticking his penis in the bottle two days in a row.
“Pulls out his penis and puts his penis in my bottle,” the woman told KTRK. “Basically rinses his penis in the water.”
Criminal documents already signaled more possible victims. Cops said that another woman who worked in the building experienced a similar situation: the water in her Smartwater bottle was yellow and smelled of urine, documents stated.
The 54-year-old woman and three other people were plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed on Thursday against companies that ran the medical office building, saying that they failed to do their due diligence in hiring Diaz and in addressing the water allegations.
“Our management company immediately cooperated with the police department in this matter as soon as we were made aware of this potential issue by our tenant,” said Terry Quinn, CEO of building owner Altera Fund Advisors in a statement previously obtained by KTRK. “They were advised by the police to not alert or approach the alleged perpetrator so that he could be arrested. He was arrested when he returned to the building.”
The defendant is in ICE custody.
[Screenshot via KHOU]