UCSF Employee Arrested for Allegedly Poisoning Colleague

A UCSF postdoctoral fellow has been arrested for the alleged attempted murder and poisoning of a University lab research associate, according to the UCSF Police Department. Ben Chun Liu, a 38-year-old Chinese resident employed at UCSF on a work visa, was arrested Nov. 7 for allegedly poisoning the drink of Mei Cao, his colleague in the UCSF Department of Urology, according to a statement from UCSF police. Liu was placed on an immigration hold and remained in custody at the San Francisco County Jail on Monday morning. Cao was examined at the UCSF Medical Center and later released, police said. The UCSF Police Department detectives searched the University lab where both Liu and Cao work, as well as Liu’s home, and recovered evidence of the poisoning, police said. The motive for the poisoning has not been determined, and there appear to be no other victims or suspects, UCSF police said. The incident remains under investigation.