LA County man arrested for allegedly poisoning roommate's food

A Los Angeles County man who was allegedly caught on camera spraying an unknown substance to poison his roommates' food was arrested on Tuesday at a home in Saugus. 

The investigation began back in December, when deputies were called for reports of a poisoning incident, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies told CBS LA. The alleged victims told deputies that they had been feeling sick and couldn't figure out what was wrong.

No arrests were made at the time, but deputies were again called to the home on Monday, Feb. 23, for another alleged poisoning, deputies said. When they arrived, the suspect was not at the house. 

The roommates said that they had checked their home surveillance cameras, which allegedly showed the man spraying their food and kitchen area with some sort of spray. 

In the video, the man is seen wearing what looks to be a respiratory mask as he sprays the substance all over the kitchen. 

"It tasted really weird, like chemicals," said Billy Hopper, one of the victims. "We dumped it out, and we filed for that too. That was another charge; he's trying to poison us."

At the time, though, they said they didn't have enough evidence to prove the allegations to deputies. 

The Hoppers say that their health concerns from the alleged poisoning forced them to seek help in recent weeks, including visits to the hospital for various tests. They say that the results led them to review their security footage, which showed two different instances of their food being sprayed, the victims said. 

"We didn't have the proof of it, we didn't see him doing it, so they wouldn't do anything," Billy Hopper said. "But now, we've caught him on camera twice, of him using something and hiding it from the camera."

Deputies went back to the home on Tuesday afternoon at around 4:50 p.m. after the Hoppers called them to say that the suspect was home. When they attempted to speak with the suspect, he refused to leave his room. 

After several hours, during which a mental evaluation team was also called because deputies believed that the suspect may have been experiencing a mental health episode, he was finally detained at around 9 p.m., authorities said. 

"I'm just surprised that every time we've called the sheriffs out here that they've never done anything until now," David Hopper said. "It took us, almost like dying, possibly, for them to finally do something."

More video from the scene, which was captured on Tuesday, showed an LASD deputy bagging what appeared to be bug spray that was marked as evidence. They have not yet confirmed exactly what the substance is. 

The suspect was issued a citation with a notice to appear in court and was taken out of town with family members who picked him up from the LASD station, deputies said. 

Detectives served a search warrant at the home to recover evidence that was potentially connected to the allegations, but did not provide further details. 

The man's roommates said they had a long list of allegations against the man, including that he allegedly set the home's balcony on fire. 

"We don't want to be in fear anymore," Billy Hopper said. "We're tired of it. We just wanna be safe."

The case is being presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office for filing consideration, deputies said. In the meantime, the Hoppers said that they have filed both a restraining order and stay-away order against the man.

The suspect has not yet been identified as the investigation continues.