By Ryan Haggerty of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Nov. 3, 2009

A Milwaukee firefighter was charged Tuesday with spiking his wife's tea with a prescription anti-depressant, according to a criminal complaint.

The woman, a Milwaukee police detective, realized the tea was drugged after her 3-year-old son drank the rest of the beverage Saturday evening and then spit a white substance back into the mug, the complaint says.

The child was not injured, a Milwaukee police spokeswoman said.

The Journal Sentinel is not naming the firefighter to protect the identity of the victim and her son.

The woman confronted her husband and asked him what he put in the drink, according to the complaint.

The husband, 43, first said the substance was undissolved sugar, then admitted he had put half a tablet of Lexapro in the drink, the complaint says.

The husband told a police officer he put the medication in the tea because he and his wife had been arguing about bills, and he wanted to calm her down, the complaint says.

The husband offered the tea to his wife as she got out of the shower, according to the complaint. She took a few sips and then gave the mug to her son when he asked for a drink. He had just finished trick-or-treating, and she thought the tea would warm him up, the complaint says.

The husband is charged with one count of placing foreign objects in edibles. The felony is punishable by up to three and a half years in prison.

He is being held at the Milwaukee County Jail on $10,000 bail.

A temporary restraining order was issued Monday against him, according to court records.

The man has been suspended with pay by the Milwaukee Fire Department, according to a department spokeswoman.