DARIEN, Conn. (AP) - Bottles of fruit juice that appeared to be tampered with were found at same drug store where grape juice that sickened dozens of churchgoers had been purchased, police said. The bottles contained several different brands and types of juice and were found during an inventory check, police said Friday. The CVS store was shut down as a precaution, and other stores in the area were notified.
The discovery comes after 40 churchgoers at Calvary Baptist Church were sickened last Sunday. Five people were sent to the hospital with nausea and vomiting after drinking the juice during a communion service, but nobody was seriously injured.
Investigators have ruled out arsenic and other common poisons, but said they have not conclusively identified the substance, other than to say it was not life-threatening.
The latest tests have ruled out the use of a needle to inject the substance into the bottle or other tampering with the bottle, police said.
No arrests have been made and authorities are not sure of a motive.
In Maine three years ago, one church member died and 15 others became ill after drinking coffee that was spiked with arsenic at Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church in New Sweden. Longtime church member Daniel Bondeson was linked to the poisonings after he killed himself, but the case remains open.
