(Trinidad Express) Police arrested a 14-year-old boy on Tuesday after he reportedly gave his classmate a plastic soft drink bottle of Lanate to drink during their lunch period at their school in Blanchisseuse on Monday.
The victim, 13, was first taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital then moved to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and when his condition improved on Tuesday morning he was moved to a regular ward.
Police said that around noon on Monday the suspect, the victim and two of their friends were in the yard of their Blanchisseuse school when the suspect offered the three boys a sip of his “soft drink.”
Two of the boys refused but the other boy however grabbed the bottle and gulped down some of the liquid. He gagged, got up and ran off before collapsing, clutching his throat and stomach and screaming with pain.
School officials saw what was going on and immediately contacted the police and called for an ambulance as well.
The suspect was then detained by the police and up to press time last night remained at the Blanchisseuse Police Station being interviewed.
His parents were also called in and they too were questioned by officers about the boy’s life at home.
According to investigators, the suspect said that it was a prank and he did not think his classmate would have drunk the substance.
