Fullerton man denies tainting coworker’s water

A Fullerton man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to tainting his coworker’s water bottle with semen when they worked together in Newport Beach and Orange.

Michael Kevin Lallana, 31, is due back in court Oct. 14 for a pretrial hearing on four misdemeanor counts of assault and depositing an offensive material in a public place. He faces three months to three years behind bars and registristration as a sex offender.

In January, Lallana was working at Northwestern Mutual Mortgage Co. in Newport Beach with another woman in her 20s. The day the two and a few others were set to be transferred to a branch in Orange, prosecutors said, Lallana ejaculated into his coworker’s water bottle while she was away.

She later drank it and got sick. Lallana is accused of doing it again in April, except this time the woman had the mysterious fluid tested and results showed it was semen. Police were called and matched the sample to Lallana, officials said.

— Joseph Serna