Chinese microbiologist, 32, is arrested fleeing to China after allegedly poisoning colleague's tea over patent rivalry

Aili Wang, a Chinese microbiology graduate student at a Wyoming university, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport while allegedly trying to flee to China after police spoke to her about the poisoning of a fellow researcher. Wang purchased acrylamide on eBay and is accused of putting it into her colleague's tea — a man with pending patents whose research overlapped with work she had previously done in China. The pair are said to have had a difficult relationship.

Surveillance footage allegedly shows Wang going through her victim's desk; laptops, storage devices and documents were confiscated when she was intercepted at LAX.

The poisoning came to light after the victim's wife and others arranged for water from his tea-brewing coffee maker to be tested.

Wang is being held without bail in Los Angeles. US officials have long accused China of misappropriating intellectual property from American universities.