Woman charged with poisoning inmate’s coffee at Ada County Jail

Ada County Sheriff’s Office booked Rocio Contreras-Loya, 41, into the Ada County Jail on Wednesday and charged her with food poisoning after she allegedly put chemical cleaning powder in a fellow inmate’s coffee while they were incarcerated in the Ada County Jail.

According to the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, the incident occurred on Nov. 23, 2014, when a group of female inmates told jail deputies Contreras-Loya put cleaning powder in another inmate’s bag of coffee and two inmates drank the coffee.

Deputies examined the bin holding the victim’s personal belongings and found a small amount of white powder mixed in with the instant coffee. Deputies also found a small amount of white powder inside a paper bowl.

Investigators determined the white powder was from cleaning detergent packets inmates put in water before mopping the jail’s floors. The two inmates who drank the coffee were treated and released back to the dorm.

Contreras-Loya allegedly put the white powder into the other inmate’s coffee following a dispute.

She denied putting the powder in the coffee bag, but jail video shows her going through the bin of the other inmate before that inmate drank the coffee.

Ada County prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Contreras-Loya about seven months later, on June 19, 2015. By that time she was no longer in Ada County’s custody.

Contreras-Loya was brought back to Ada County on Wednesday from Vale, Oregon. She is being held in the Ada County Jail on a $10,000 bond. Her preliminary hearing on the felony charge is set for June 2.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Woman charged with poisoning inmate’s coffee at Ada County Jail."