Man held after reported threat
to poison water

SALEM, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Police in Salem, Massachusetts, are holding a Florida man on $250,000 cash bail after he allegedly threatened to dump mercury in the area's drinking water.

Scott Fuller was taken into custody this week after police received a tip that he was threatening to poison Wenham Lake, which supplies drinking water for about 100,000 people in the northern towns of Salem, Beverly and Wenham, said Detective Mike Andreas, an intelligence officer.

During questioning, Fuller said he had five pounds of mercury in Florida, and told them where to look for it, police said. The Marion County sheriff's office in Florida found a substance in a storage facility rented by Fuller. It is being tested to determine if it is mercury.

Police said Fuller was living with a friend in Salem. He was carrying a gun that police confiscated because he did not have a permit to possess one in Massachusetts, police said.

He is being held for a restraining order violation.

Asked if the poisoning threat was a serious one, Andreas said, "If somebody wanted to put something in the water, they could."