Associated Press Wrote:Mechanic Allegedly Taints Co-Workers' Coffee With Urine
Prosecutor: Co-Workers Captured Suspect On Tape

POSTED: 2:12 pm CDT August 25, 2005
AKRON, Ohio -- A postal worker has been charged with putting urine in the coffee of co-workers.

Thomas Shaheen, 49, of suburban Springfield Township, who works as a vehicle mechanic for the U.S. Postal Service, was charged Aug. 5 with two misdemeanor counts of adulteration of food or placing harmful objects in food.

He was ordered to appear in Akron Municipal Court on Monday.

Prosecutors said workers believed Shaheen poured urine into a coffee pot in a break room on July 5 and again July 6. Suspecting a problem, workers started their own investigation.

"Employees did put a video camera in, and that's how they were able to put a stop to what he was doing," Akron Prosecutor Douglas Powley said.

None of Shaheen's co-workers was physically harmed.

Shaheen could not be reached for comment. Repeated calls to his home went unanswered Thursday. A message was left for his attorney, Paul F. Adamson.

Shaheen has been a postal employee for 11 years, said David Van Allen, a postal service spokesman.