Student Charged In Apple `Joke'

KENNEWICK - An apple for the teacher has gotten a 17-year-old student charged with attempted assault and three others expelled from the Tri-Tech Skills Center.

Sule Antiona Castilleja of Kennewick is accused of injecting an apple with dental anesthetic before leaving it for Bev Booth, a dental instructor at the vocational school in her hometown.

Another student warned Booth before she ate the apple, officials said.

Castilleja was enrolled in the dental-assistant program.

Scott Johnson, Benton County deputy prosecutor, is asking that Castilleja be tried as an adult. The teenager, who has no prior arrests, is being held at the Benton-Franklin juvenile jail.

Classmate Glenda Moreno said Castilleja told several girls in the class about the plan in advance.

"I think she saw it as a joke, but she didn't see the consequences," Moreno said.