Retired druggist put mercury in food at hospital, police say
Ulster County man charged in Albany case Martin Kimber of Ruby has been charged with a felony in connection with the March 2 incidents.
RIGHT: This police mug shot of Kimber was taken after
his arrest on Thursday.
(Detectives are) still trying to figure out what the motive is.
— Officer Steven Smith, Albany Police Department
RUBY — A retired pharmacist from this town of Ulster hamlet has been charged with a felony for allegedly putting small silver balls, later determined to be mercury, in food at the full-service cafeteria at Albany Medical Center, according to Albany police officials.
Albany detectives arrested Martin Kimber, 59, of 8 Lena Lane, Ruby, at 3:30 p.m. Thursday and charged him with tampering with a consumer product, a felony.
Officer Steven Smith said the case began to unfold on March 2, when a woman in the cafeteria noticed a small silver ball in the chicken fingers she ordered.
Smith said the woman notified hospital security, and an investigation was launched. Smith said mercury balls also were found in “other food sources” in the cafeteria.
He said the mercury balls were tested and found to be non-harm-
ful. And no one actually ingested the items, he said.
A multiagency investigation that included Albany police, the FBI and town of Ulster police began, and a photo of Kimber was released, Smith said.
Kimber was a patient at Albany Medical Center at one time, Smith said, though he could not say what he was being treated for or whether he was a patient at the time of the mercury incidents.
Smith said someone who saw Kimber’s photo on a TV news broadcast spotted him in Ulster County and called the county District Attorney’s Office, which notified Albany police.
Smith said detectives executed a search warrant Thursday at Kimber’s home and found evidence linking him to the crime.
“It could have been chemicals. It could have been clothing. I’m not exactly sure what it was,” Smith said. “They’re still trying to figure out what the motive is.”
Police said Kimber is a retired pharmacist, but they did not say where he worked.
In a statement issued Friday, officials at Albany Medical Center called the arrest a “relief.”
“It is unconscionable that someone may have attempted to harm people at the very place that our community relies upon when in need of healing,” hospital officials said in the statement. “Albany Medical Center will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of every patient, staff member, student and visitor in the Albany Med community. As this case shows, we will work with authorities to ensure that any individual who attempts to inflict harm on our community will be found and brought to justice.”
The hospital had offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, but Sue Ford, a public relations spokeswoman for the hospital, would not say if the person who tipped off police had received the reward.
Kimber was arraigned Friday morning in Albany City Court and sent to the Albany County Jail without bail.