Elderly Man Accused Of Trying To Poison His Girlfriend At San Rafael Nursing Home
SAN RAFAEL (CBS SF) – A San Jose man faces an attempted murder charge for allegedly providing water containing chlorine to his girlfriend in a San Rafael care facility, a San Rafael police spokeswoman said.
Robert Lewis Lochridge, 67, was arrested at his home Saturday. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Marin County Superior Court Tuesday morning on charges of attempted murder, poisoning or adulterating a food, drink or medication likely to cause great bodily injury and cruelty to a dependent adult.
Lochridge told his 63-year-old girlfriend the bottles he brought her in the Northgate Care Center contained water with vitamins and minerals, police spokeswoman Margo Rohrbacher said.
"He told her it was good for her," Rohrbacher said.
Lochridge also brought his girlfriend a mini-refrigerator to store
the bottles at the care center at 40 Professional Center Parkway, Rohrbacher said.
An employee at the care center noticed water in one of the bottles looked discolored, Rohrbacher said. The care facility tested the water and discovered it contained chlorine, Rohrbacher said.
San Rafael police had a sample of the water tested at a swimming pool supply business, and it too tested positive for chlorine, Rohrbacher said.
The water bottles and the refrigerator have been taken into evidence, and a forensic lab will test the water in the bottles, Rohrbacher said.
Lochridge was cooperative when San Rafael police arrested him at his home and brought him back to San Rafael, Rohrbacher said.
Lochridge was being held in the Marin County jail under $500,000 bail.
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