Two South Carolina security officers were arrested last week and accused of trying to poison their supervisor with eyedrops, officials said.
Andrew Doty, 47, and Hunter Howard, 30, worked at The Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island, where they are alleged to have put eyedrops in their security supervisor’s personal coffee maker, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Maj. Bob Bromage said.
Another employee alerted the management staff, and the supervisor did not end up drinking the spiked coffee, Bromage said.
Authorities were contacted, and Doty and Howard were arrested Friday. They were charged with tampering with a human drug product or food item, a felony, the sheriff's office said. The charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Eyedrops can be dangerous when they are overused or taken inappropriately. An ingredient in eyedrops causes sleepiness, low blood pressure and a dangerously slow heart rate when it is used in high amounts or ingested, according to the National Capital Poison Center.
Doty and Howard were released later Friday on $5,000 personal recognizance bonds, meaning they did not have to post any money, Bromage said.
Lawyer information for the two was not immediately available. The sheriff's office declined to elaborate on any motive.
Excessive use of eyedrops has killed people in the past.
In January 2020, Lana Sue Clayton, a South Carolina woman accused of killing her husband with eyedrops in 2018, was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Her husband, Stephen Delvalle Clayton, died July 21, 2018. An autopsy showed he had poisonous levels of tetrahydrozoline, a decongestant used to relieve redness in the eyes, in his body, the York County Sheriff’s Office said.