It’s giving absolute nightmare fuel. A woman named Rong Yuan is dropping hidden-camera footage of her coworker, David Xu, allegedly poisoning her water bottle. The move comes as a last-ditch effort to keep his felony conviction on his record after he requested it be dismissed in an Alameda County court today.## The backstory Yuan and Xu both worked at Berkeley Engineering and Research. According to prosecutors, from 2017 to 2019, Xu repeatedly contaminated Yuan’s food and water with cadmium, a toxic heavy metal. Yuan recalls feeling like she was "dying" after drinking from her bottle, dealing with symptoms like hair loss and constant vomiting for years before catching him in the act. Xu even gaslit her, suggesting the office was just "moldy" when she called out sick.## The reveal Suspicion peaked when Yuan’s mother tasted a "sour" liquid from her bottle, leading them to set up a spy camera. The footage, captured in early 2019, appears to show Xu tampering with her things. Yuan told the San Francisco Standard, "My blood was frozen. I almost died. I experienced death so, so close so many times. I cannot let him go." Despite the severity of the act, Xu was offered a plea deal in 2024 for one count of poisoning and two years of probation.## Why it matters Real talk: the legal system is lowkey failing the victims here. Xu finished his probation this past March and is now exercising his right under California law to ask the judge to dismiss his felony conviction. While the district attorney’s office has objected, state law generally requires judges to grant these requests if probation conditions were met. For Yuan, sharing this tape is her way of fighting back against a system she feels let her down.