12.06.07 - Cops: Housemate
Saw Red in Visine Poisoning
A housing squabble at a North Bellmore residence escalated
until one tenant poisoned her roommate with eyedrop medication,
causing him to vomit and bleed from his rectum, and then
provoked his two dogs into a fatal fight, Nassau police
said yesterday.
Kristine Anzalone, 24, now living at 45 Ryder Ave. in East
Rockaway, pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault and
third-degree criminal mischief charges yesterday. She was
expected to post bail of $5,000 cash or $10,000 bond, according
to Nancy Bartling of Mineola, her lawyer. "The facts
will show that she had nothing to do with this," Bartling
said.
From March to early July 2006, Anzalone and her husband,
Christopher, lived with an unnamed friend at 999 Newbridge
Rd., said Det. Lt. Kevin Smith at a news conference yesterday.
But the housing situation quickly disintegrated over arguments
about rent, and Anzalone, who was pregnant at the time,
complained about the roommate smoking in the home, Smith
said.
One day in June 2006, the roommate was cleaning the garage
when Anzalone served him iced tea that was spiked with an
unknown amount of Visine, an over-the-counter eyedrop medicine
for dry or bloodshot eyes, police said. Visine contains
tetrahydrozoline, a chemical that constricts blood vessels.
The next day, the roommate started vomiting, had trouble
breathing and bled from his rectum, Smith said. He went
to his doctor at North Shore University Hospital in Plainview
for medical attention, and soon learned from friends that
Anzalone put Visine in his drink, Smith said.
Improper use of Visine can cause organ damage, said Dr.
Tom Caraccio, managing director of the Long Island Regional
Poison Center at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola.
"If you ingested enough, it could affect the heart,
it could affect the lungs," he said, citing a case
where a toddler fell into a coma after drinking half a bottle
of Visine.
A spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson, the company that
makes the eyedrop medicine, said, "Visine is safe and
effective when used as directed" and declined to comment
on the case.
After he fell ill, the roommate made preparations to move
out of the North Bellmore house but had an out-of-town business
trip around July 6, 2006, police said. He came home to find
his Chihuahua had been killed by his pit bull, and learned
from an unidentified witness that Anzalone, using a metal
cane, hit and poked the pit bull into attacking the smaller
dog, Smith said. The pit bull was later euthanized, he said.
Anzalone's lawyer said she wasn't even at home at the time
of the pit bull attack. "She came home to see the Chihuahua
dead," Bartling said.
But the last straw was Christopher Anzalone taking the
roommate's $3,000 big-screen television, Smith said. The
roommate sued the Anzalones in small-claims court over the
television and filed a police report about the Visine poisoning
and the dog attack in October 2006. The investigation took
time because of "reluctant witnesses," Smith said,
declining to specify further.
Bartling said she wasn't sure why Anzalone and her roommate
had such problems.
"They had a falling out," she said.
- Sophia Chang:
Newsday Staff Writer
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