HOUSTON, Texas: A janitor with a potentially life-threatening sexually transmitted disease was arrested last month after spreading the infection to an office worker who recorded him urinating and placing his privates in her water bottle, according to charging documents.

Lucio Catarino Diaz, 50, was charged on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon Oct 13.

A woman employed at a doctor's office along Houston's East Freeway in August noticed water dispensed from her workplace's five-gallon dispenser had a "funny taste and smell to it," the documents show. The dispenser had hot and cold settings and was placed in a common area where all employees could use it.

Due to the sour taste, the woman dumped the water out and threw her bottle away. She then brought in her own 16-ounce water bottle and each day would fill it in the morning, drink it and leave the empty bottle on her desk for use the next day, according to the documents.

A few days passed when the woman’s personal water bottle, which she bought from a store, began smelling nasty for an unknown reason. The woman threw away the horrible-smelling bottle and purchased another one to bring to the office.

On Sept 20, the woman handed a co-worker her water bottle after the co-worker offered to fill it with coffee. The co-worker removed the bottle's lid and asked the woman why the water inside was yellow, the documents show.

After the co-worker smelled the bottle and concluded it reeked of urine, the woman spoke to a doctor at her office who completed a urinalysis test. The liquid in the bottle tested positive for urine, according to the documents.

When speaking to other co-workers, the woman found out they were encountering the same smell from their water bottles. One co-worker told the woman she noticed the water in her large Smartwater was yellow and smelled of urine.

Since the office wasn't equipped with security cameras, the woman bought a hidden camera from Amazon, placed it under her computer Sept 26 and left her capped water bottle on her desk overnight.

Shortly after leaving, the woman received an alert on her phone from the video camera that was recording in her office. In the footage, the woman saw a man putting his privates in her bottle, recapping it and placing it back on her desk. The woman contacted police, but after several hours of waiting for officers to respond, she went home.

The next day, she went to a Houston police station and gave officers two different bottles as evidence - one filled with urine and the other in which Diaz is accused of placing his privates. Police spoke with the woman and learned of a second incident on Sept 27, during which Diaz again allegedly was captured on video placing his privates in the woman's water bottle.

Diaz was confronted by officers at the medical practice that day and the janitor reportedly confirmed he had put his privates in the woman's bottle on the two occasions because he "knew she would drink it the next day," court documents show. The officers then detained Diaz.

The woman then called police Sept 30 and explained she had undergone blood and urine testing to screen for various communicable diseases. A warrant was issued for Diaz's arrest Oct 3 and he was arrested Oct 5, according to court documents.

Diaz told investigators he had been urinating in and placing his privates inside water bottles at the office for eight months. He said he did it out of "malicious intent" and that it was a "sickness." The janitor also said he didn't know how many times he did it and claimed he didn't know of any diseases he could have.

The woman told investigators she tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease, noting test results for other infections were pending. Diaz tested positive for the same disease, and various others, Oct 10.

The disease the woman and Diaz suffer from is transmitted by direct contact and can be exchanged through bodily fluids, according to a nurse practitioner referenced in court documents. The disease also can weaken the immune system and, in some cases, be life-threatening.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office filed charges against Diaz Oct 13. He was taken into custody and was being held by immigration officials.

 - TNS