A 12-year old boy has been charged with contaminating a water cooler that belonged to Kansas Wesleyan University’s baseball team during a doubleheader last month. According to the Associated Press, the boy has been charged with endangerment and criminal damage to property.
Kansas Wesleyan was playing a doubleheader against Bethany College in late April when both schools contacted authorities after one of Kansas Wesleyan’s water coolers had been tampered with. The paint used to put lines on the field had been mixed into Kansas Wesleyan’s water, and Lindsborg, Kansas police suspected two boys were involved in the contamination.
Kansas Wesleyan and Bethany, separated by just 18 miles, are longtime rival schools, and it is customary for the home team — in this case, Bethany — to provide water to the visiting team. Authorities have not clarified if any Kansas Wesleyan players or staff drank the contaminated water or became ill as a result.
A summons will now be issued for the 12-year old boy to appear in court, according to McPherson County Attorney Jennifer Wyatt. Earlier, a Lindsborg police statement shared that it was determined that no one associated with either school was involved in the contamination.
“This incident generated wide-reaching media interest after initial comments on social media claimed that a college baseball program deliberately contaminated an opponent’s water cooler,” read a police statement. “The Lindsborg Police Department has taken this incident seriously and has conducted over 60 interviews so far, collected multiple pieces of evidence, photographed the scene, and followed various leads.”
The doubleheader in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, which was marred by the contamination incident, ended up being split by both teams. The second game was a blowout that saw Kansas Wesleyan set a school record for runs in a 33-2 victory.
