Man Tries To Poison Two Year Old, Self

"LAWRENCE, NY — A New York man in a dispute with a woman may have tried to kill their young daughter and himself by covering them both with chemicals in a vehicle, where they were found having trouble breathing, police said.

"The 45-year-old Queens man, a mechanic with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is in critical condition at a Long Island hospital, Nassau County Police spokesman Lt. Kevin Smith said. His 2-year-old daughter is in critical but stable condition at Cohen Children's Medical Center, said hospital spokeswoman Michelle Pinto.

"They were found in the vehicle Monday morning behind a store in suburban Lawrence, authorities said.

"Investigators found ammonium chloride, commonly found in fire extinguishers and fertilizers, in and on the child's bottle. A chemical used in household pesticides also was found on the father and child and throughout the vehicle.

"`It looks like he may have given the child this product to ingest,` Smith said. `He may have ingested the rest on his own, so we have to look at from a standpoint it may be an attempt to take his child's life and commit suicide.`"

From NBC New York...