North Providence employee charged with poisoning co-worker’s Gatorade with window wash fluid

NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A North Providence Public Works employee has been arrested and charged with a felony after allegedly poisoning a co-worker’s Gatorade with windshield washer fluid.

Police say 29-year-old Alessio D’Andrea was taken into custody Monday following an investigation into the late June incident at the town’s Department of Public Works building.

According to investigators, D’Andrea allegedly filled the empty bottle with wiper fluid and placed it in the office refrigerator while two other employees looked on. When the victim returned and drank from the bottle, he quickly realized something was wrong. Co-workers then realizing what happened called poison control and urged the victim to go to the hospital.

The worker was hospitalized for more than a day as a result.

Court documents show D’Andrea told the town’s director of human resources “it was a prank that went bad.” He has since been placed on unpaid leave pending an investigation.

D’Andrea was arraigned Monday without entering a plea. He has been granted $20,000 surety bail on the condition that he have no contact with the victim, keep the peace, and not leave Rhode Island. He is scheduled to be back in court for his next hearing on October 29.

He is also facing unrelated federal charges stemming from a 2023 investigation. At that time, U.S. Customs intercepted a package from China addressed to D’Andrea that contained a “lightning link” auto sear, an illegal device that converts a semi-automatic firearm into a fully automatic weapon. A subsequent search of his Johnston home uncovered multiple AR-style rifles, two unregistered silencers, and Nazi flags. Investigators also said they found text messages in which D’Andrea and his brother discussed the racial backgrounds of local business owners, according to court records.