HOUSTON—
For one Houston woman, a quick stop at her local gas station became a modern day cautionary tale.Last Friday, Mary Anne Capo remembers filling up her tank and cleaning out her car when a man approached her with a pamphlet. The man wanted to let her know about a church service the following week.
"I felt like what he was saying wasn't really above board. I had taken that pamphlet and I actually had opened it up," said Capo.
Capo said she looked at it then threw it away along with a few other items in her car.
"Finished pumping gas, got in my car, and started to drive out the exit and that's when I felt my throat started to swell up like someone was strangling me, my tongue was swollen," she said.
She said she immediately pulled back into the gas station and ran inside to get help.
"I don't know if it was something that I touched on it or if when I open it up," said Capo of the pamphlet. "There was something inside of it. I never smelt anything and I never saw anything. Never saw any powder or anything like that."
Capo's story may sound familiar - it did to 39News. On a website dedicated to debunking hoaxes and urban myths there is a story very similar to Capo's. The website's version is contained in an e-mail alert which goes on to detail a Katy woman who encounters a man at a gas station who gives her a business card. Later, the woman becomes dizzy and discovers the card had been laced with a powerful drug. The website goes on to cite several variations of the story with the same underlying theme.
Capo is aware of the story because she said after she sent an e-mail to family and friends to warn them they told her about it.
"This is absolutely not a hoax ... it absolutely happened to me," she said.
She also contacted Harris County Precinct 5 Constable's Office and reported the incident, which the law enforcement agency confirmed for 39News.
"I called the constables; I said I need to tell you all what happened. I was also just worried it was going to happen to someone else," said Capo.
She is warning people not to take anything from a stranger's hand.
"They can believe me or not. It doesn't really matter, but if it makes them think before they take something from someone and if my situation saves someone's life or keeps them from being a part of a scam or victim then it was worth it."
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