West Tisbury police investigate laundry pellet case

Oak Bluffs woman charged with breaking and entering, property destruction, disorderly conduct.

By
Lucas Thors
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31
Daisy Moreau, 26, allegedly broke into the health center. — courtesy Dukes County Sheriffs Department

An Oak Bluffs woman was arrested by West Tisbury Police on Feb. 15, and arraigned on Feb. 18 in Edgartown District Court on charges of breaking and entering during the daytime, malicious destruction of property over $1,200, and disorderly conduct after allegedly breaking into the Environmental Health Center in West Tisbury and spreading Downy scent-booster pellets throughout the building.

Daisy Moreau, 26, allegedly broke into the health center at 24 Cournoyer Road on Saturday, Feb. 3, according to court records. The health center is operated by Dr. Lisa Nagy, an environmental health practitioner. Environmental medicine is a multidisciplinary field that focuses on how human health is affected by an individual’s surroundings.

Nagy treats electrosensitive and chemically sensitive patients who, according to the center’s website, are negatively affected by things such as fluorescent lighting, Wi-Fi and certain types of computers, and perfume, hairspray, or other odorous chemical products.

According to court records, Moreau is alleged to have broken into the facility and “dumped Downy Unstoppables in-wash scent booster pellets in various locations around the first floor of the building.”

Moreau allegedly dumped the pellets in a sauna at the facility that is used for one of Nagy’s treatments meant to cleanse the body of toxins.

Court records indicate that Moreau also allegedly spread the pellets in a trashcan, a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, underneath a cabinet, in two separate floor drains, a heating vent, and various other locations.

Because Nagy’s practice is meant to treat patients that require a scent-free environment, records allege that Moreau maliciously distributed the pellets, creating “a potentially hazardous condition for Dr. Nagy and her patients who live a scent-free lifestyle.”

Court records allege that Moreau caused possible harm to Nagy and to her patients. “Ms. Moreau is aware that the business specializes in providing patients care with scent-free means ,and exposing the patients to scented products can cause severe harm to those patients,” records state.

A pretrial hearing for Moreau is set for March 27. 

    • A repugnant innuendo. One may be certain that there are many suspicious of you, but none has made such an vapid comment. State your suspicions and share with us who the “many” are who harbor them. Not a taunt. Tell us. While you are at it, share with us how you address, face to face, a person with lymphoma, pneumonia, or, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Based on your decades practice, what’s your d-dimer inclusion, or you do go directly to an angiogram? These are not hypothetical questions. The pathologies referenced in them present on MV on a daily basis. When the level of acuity increases ten-fold during the summer, one wonders if you could stomach it. Now, then. where did you go to medical school? I wonder.

      • While some of the details in the article that describe this doctor’s practice do address legitimate health concerns, there are a couple of things that are suspect at best. One glaring bit is the part about the supposed negative effects of Wifi. Another is the inference that you can rid your body of toxins in a sauna. It’s stuff like this which raises eyebrows when you know the practitioner is an actual MD. Mixing pseudoscience with healthcare is a disservice to people who are ill.

  • I certainly hope she doesn’t get away with a slap on the wrist. When people do things like this, it seems they often get away without having to payback damages in full and the victims seems stuck with some portion of the bill. Make her payback the entire cost of removing the pellets and any other costs associated with repair. Then make her pay a to a charity of the victims choice or some hours of community service or both.

  • I think that this story stinks!!!
    It seems that the “Perp” was unstoppable.
    Putting Downey pellets in the trash can is, like, too extreme for me.
    This whole story is giving me the hives.
    Like the trash doesn’t stink enough?

  • No doubt it was intentional. Doesn’t seem like something that could happen accidentally. I don’t agree with a few of Lisa Nagy’s treatments, so I decided not to see her. Disagreeing with any part of her practice is no excuse to do something malicious. Heavy detergents can trigger migraines like none other, for starters. Asthma attacks, too. It’s really not funny.

  • I don’t think this is humorous at all. Some people are very sensitive to odors, even pleasant ones. By sensitive, I mean allergic. Would you have found it funny if a patient came in first thing and went into anaphylactic shock? Shame on you.

  • Bottom line- someone violated someone else’s personal and professional space and committed an act meant to inflict harm and cause emotional distress. This needs to be condemned in no uncertain terms by everyone. No exceptions.

    • Agreed, Wesley. I think some commenters read “laundry pellet case” and assumed this can be written off as Scooby-Doo-ish hijinks. It can’t. Dr. Nagy may be treating people with allergies and breathing problems, among many other symptoms. The most problematic ingredients in detergent are usually the dyes and fragrances. These pellets are just a concentrated mix of that stuff. No one has the right to mess with another’s health or property. What this woman did is twisted. Who goes around thinking about sabotaging someone else’s business or well-being?

  • Environmental medicine has long been controversial, but environmental illnesses and allegries are real and horrible. Suffering people go to environmental medicine doctors when conventional doctors fail them, but it’s not for everyone. There are benefits to saunas, although it is false that sweating removes toxins. (I don’t know who said that.) The radiation from wifi routers has been found to have negative health effects. This story is about a cruel criminal act against Dr. Nagy and there is nothing at all funny about it. Here is a link to Dr. Nagy’s story from 2008 when she sought help from a controversial ‘chemically sensitive’ clinic. I think people hear the word ‘sensitive’ and they go all MAGA “fake hoax” suspicious and mean-spirited. (MAGA has taken on more negatively inferred connotations than SENSITIVE!)

    • “The radiation from wifi routers has been found to have negative health effects. ”
      Sorry, Jackie. That is utterly false. Wifi emits non ionizing radiation, which is totally harmless. Any claims to the countrary are not based on valid science.

        • I sit about 2 feet from my router every day, 40+ hours a week and have for about 20 years…just sayin

        • jackie – I’ll just quote the first two sentences from that blog.
          (BTW, a blog is not a scientific study. That would require a double blind test with the end result being peer reviewed)
          “WiFi and the electronic devices that connect to it, such as cellphones, laptops, and wireless headphones, are all around us. So far, there is no consistent evidence that WiFi routers or WiFi-powered devices increase cancer risk.”

          • Thank you for taking the time to read the Dana Farber blog I posted. Yes, the evidence is inconsistent. Anyone is free to sleep and work within a few feet from their router but I choose to take the recommendations from the medical community and limit my exposure. Did you have some point about the criminal and cruel act described in this news story?

      • some guy– just wondering if you think windmills cause cancer and climate change is a hoax ?

  • …meanwhile in the real world the police actually have serious crimes to investigate. What’s next? Are island criminals going to prune overgrown hedges, perhaps felonious car washing in the Cronig’s up island parking lot.

    • I would be very angry if someone went inside my property and did this…just because it isn’t a robbery or a homicide doesn’t mean she didn’t break the law.

    • This is a serious crime. Would you think it wasn’t serious if someone snuck a few peanuts into a child’s snack, knowing the child was allergic to peanuts? How is this different?

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