A 17-year-old is facing two felony charges for spiking his stepfather’s energy drinks with cattle sedatives, court documents reveal.
KTRK-TV reported Tyler Rabenhorst-Malone of Lima, Wisc., has been charged with placing foreign objects in edibles and second-degree recklessly endangering safety.
Officials say in January 2018 the teen’s stepdad went to the hospital with a droopy face, heavy breathing and slurred speech. After being examined, doctors concluded his symptoms had been brought on from a mix of energy drinks, lack of sleep and stress.
However, when it happened again three months later, the Rock County Sheriff’s Office said the stepfather began to suspect the teen was “messing with him.”
The complaint states that the boy’s mom and stepfather reported a box of oxytocin with rompun — that they gave to their cows when they were delivering calves — was missing from their Wisconsin barn.
Police said when the stepdad stopped leaving his energy drinks open around the house, his symptoms disappeared. Not soon after, police said he found used two used syringes shoved in a corner in the barn.
Liquid taken from a suspected bottle of tainted energy drink tested positive for the tranquilizer.
The court report states Rabenhorst-Malone admitted to spiking the drinks, but said he had no intentions of hurting his stepdad. The teen told police “he thought it would be funny.”
The teen is set to appear in court March 18.
