CLEVELAND — Mail returned from the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville caused two county employees working inside the clerk of courts office to become sick, according to records from the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s office released to News 5 Tuesday.
On Jan. 5, an employee and her supervisor experienced tingling and accelerated heart rates after opening pieces of mail returned from Lucasville penitentiary that was believed to be fraudulent due to the appearance of an irregular return label, the report stated.
An employee said within 30 to 40 seconds of opening the mail, she said her hands “began to tingle and shake and her heart rate quickly became accelerated,” the report said.
Her supervisor arrived after she called for help and touched one of the pieces of mail and experienced similar symptoms.
Both were transported to St. Vincent Charity Medical Center for further treatment.
A preliminary test done by Cleveland HAZMAT crews did not reveal any substance to be harmful or narcotic based. The letters were sent in for additional testing, the report stated.
Cuyahoga County spokesperson Mary Lousie Madigan said the investigation is ongoing.
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