It was cruel social experiment.
The pair of pint-sized punks who cops say spiked their teacher’s water bottle with rat poison pulled the potentially deadly stunt just to see what would happen, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said Wednesday.
“The understanding is the 9-year-old wanted to see what the reaction would be. It’s unfortunate where kids get these ideas,” Bratton said about one of the boys. “Fortunately we’ve got it handled. But God knows where kids get these ideas.”
The boy and a 12-year-old classmate were busted Tuesday after lacing veteran teacher Johanna Cherepany’s water bottle at about 12:30 p.m. Monday at PS 315 in Flatbush and giving it to her to drink.
A third student who knew what the boys had done told her mother after school, and the student’s mom called the school’s principal to warn the teacher that her water had been poisoned.
Another parent whose child mentioned the potentially deadly stunt also called in a warning, sources said.
Cherepany, 62, rushed to her doctor’s office that afternoon and was treated for nausea and a spike in blood pressure, but was not seriously sickened or injured by the poisoned water, the sources said.
“Thank God the teacher is OK and will make a full recovery,” Mayor de Blasio said Wednesday about the idiotic prank.
She went to the 70th Precinct station house on Tuesday to report what happened, and the kids, ages 9 and 12, were arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
They will be assigned to a probation officer, who will meet with them at a later date and decide whether they will be given probation, ordered to make restitution or be prosecuted in family court.
Sources said the 9 year old — who will turn 10 next week — brought the poison to school and that both boys laced the teacher’s water with the potentially deadly toxin.
It wasn’t clear how much poison they put in the water, but cops found more of the rat poison in the younger boy’s backpack, the sources said.
Sources said the students would also be disciplined by school officials.
A schools spokeswoman would not specify the punishment, but promised “swift and appropriate action” once an internal probe is complete.
“We are greatly relieved that the teacher is recovering and we continue to closely monitor this situation,” spokeswoman Marge Feinberg said.
Mussolini Mombrun, 34, a former substitute teacher at the school who lives nearby, said Wednesday that Cherepany is a good teacher and person.
“She cares about her kids. She gets the job done,” said Mombrun. “I feel bad for her. She is a wonderful person.”
The ex-sub, who was fired from his job, blamed the school’s principal, identified on the Department of Education’s website as Judith Ranft.
“It’s chaos in there. The kids are out of control. They don’t listen. They curse. I have complained but the principal does not follow up with complaints. The kids [involved] don’t get transferred and more chaos happens.”
The school, which has 841 students, is also called the School of Performing Arts. The building also houses PS 152, which is focused on science and technology.
A similar poisoning incident took place earlier this month in England when two 10-year-olds poured a bleach-like liquid into their teacher’s coffee cup when her back was turned.
Emma Place, 39, was about to take a sip of her beverage when she was warned by another student that it was laced with a toxic substance, The Sun newspaper reported.
The plot was hatched by a group of kids who called themselves “The Mafia.”
Additional reporting by Georgett Roberts