234

DoorDasher in Indiana arrested for allegedly pepper-spraying delivery (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 2 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

63 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Kourtney Stevenson was allegedly caught on camera spraying meal with chemical that later sickened customers

A driver for the popular food delivery platform DoorDash has been arrested after allegations that she showered an order with pepper spray in plain view of a doorbell camera, sickening a customer and his wife, according to authorities in Indiana.

Kourtney Stevenson faces counts of felony battery and consumer product tampering, the Vanderburgh county sheriff’s office said in a statement on Friday, addressing a case that is bound to be of significant interest to DoorDash’s 42 million or so users.

Stevenson, 29, allegedly told investigators that she used the pepper spray in question to try to kill a spider that had frightened her, but they did not believe her, saying it was too cold at the time of the delivery for that kind of creature to be out.

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[-] SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

After ingesting their meal, they vomited while also enduring burning in their mouths, noses, throats and stomachs.

who told the outlet that he had ordered from the fast-food restaurant chain Arby’s for him and his wife.

OK but... That could've just been the Arby's food.

[-] VitoRobles@lemmy.today 1 points 1 day ago

If anything, it was already pepper sprayed twice already before the dasher picked it up.

[-] SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today 5 points 1 day ago

Ever notice it seems like it's always DoorDash with this shit? IDK if they pay people less or are less stringent with their hiring but it seems like it's always DoorDash.

[-] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 3 points 11 hours ago

I'm kinda surprised that so many people are so willing to trust whoever in the area happened to decide to sign up as a delivery person to handle their food in the privacy of their own vehicle (or wherever they decide to bring it before the final destination).

I wonder how many stories are like this but less severe/obvious to the point where it all goes unnoticed.

[-] SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today 1 points 1 hour ago

I mean this has been true for years- ever since the local pizza place hired a delivery guy in 1980 or whatever.

It's just recently that the race to the bottom of delivery services means restaurants have to staple their bags shut.

[-] VitoRobles@lemmy.today 3 points 1 day ago

Ok actually never thought about that.

Grubhub probably loving this.

[-] yeahiknow3@lemmy.dbzer0.com 101 points 2 days ago

Don’t tamper with food, it’s a serious felony. Unless you’re a multinational corporation poisoning everyone including children. That’s acceptable.

[-] Natanael@infosec.pub 7 points 1 day ago

Hello Nestlé

[-] VitoRobles@lemmy.today 3 points 1 day ago

"We're sorry..." Naked man on a bear rug

[-] CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

Or a government agency targeting brown infants riding by in a car then it's also acceptable to pepper spray.

[-] criss_cross@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

Door dashers don’t have the funds and corporate connections to legally sicken and kill people.

[-] Phegan@lemmy.world 39 points 2 days ago

I am not saying she isn't a shitty human, but when a poor person puts shit in people's food...jail.

When a corporation does. Stock buy backs.

We should hold everyone accountable for poisoning people.

[-] magnetosphere@fedia.io 28 points 2 days ago

Stevenson initially agreed to meet with the sheriff’s office, though the agency later said she backed out. Detectives subsequently obtained a warrant to arrest her.

This makes me laugh. She agreed to meet with the sheriff, then realized how badly she had fucked herself. Surprisingly, the problem didn’t magically disappear.

[-] Psythik@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

This is why you never talk to the police. Don't ever volunteer information. If they call/text you, ignore it. Make them spend the resources hunting you down. If they bring you in for questioning, the only words coming out of your mouth should be, "I would like to to speak with an attorney, please". More often than not they won't even bother obtaining a warrant for minor shit like this, but only if you don't make it easy for them.

[-] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 8 points 1 day ago

They had doorbell video of her doing it right at the door. With that kind of evidence making it super easy, they'll prosecute.

[-] JTode@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago

IANAL, but if it's true that a lawyer only needs to create Reasonable Doubt in the mind of a single jurist... I'm pretty sure I could do that. Of course, her lawyer will probably be a gig economy worker too, so they might just pepper spray her and plead guilty while she chokes. Badum. Tish.

(Marxist) But also, this woman, and all gig economy workers besides, is basically a sharecropper without land. I don't specifically think that what Nat Turner did was right, but I do understand why it happened. Likewise, someone who probably lives in their car 75% of their life because that's about all they can afford, forever, at the door of some comfortable warm secure home of a person who is participating in your exploitation just so they don't have to go retrieve their own extreuded meat paste sandwich... well like I said, I don't think what Nat Turner did was right either.(/Marxist)

More generally: Back in the 80s when everyone had a suburban home and nobody suffered, you still wondered if those teenagers in back of the McDonald's were messing with your food... and they were. And those kids had a bright future, or so they believed. We didn't appreciate what we had.

This is the LSCD (Late Stage Capitalism Doomer) version of a little extra sauce on your burger. Pillorying this prole won't even actually make anyone feel better, and it sure as shit is not going to fix a motherfucking thing.

[-] SSUPII@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 day ago

Food tampering is minor now

load more comments (3 replies)

[-] Microtonal_Banana@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago

Food tampering is a felony.

[-] yesman@lemmy.world 50 points 2 days ago

don't put shit in people's food. It's a serious felony as it should be.

In my town a waiter put eyedrops into a rude customers drink. He went to the hospital and she went to prison.

[-] naeap@sopuli.xyz 10 points 2 days ago

What kind of eye drops can that be, that are okay for the eyes but poison you, when swallowed? Oo

Somehow my understanding was, that the eyes are much more sensitive to stuff like that

[-] foenix@lemmy.radio 23 points 2 days ago

Nope, certain eye drops can cause renal/kidney failure. Your eyes are definitely sensitive to other kinds of chemicals, but the eyes and stomach can be considered to be different bio mechanical factories

load more comments (2 replies)

[-] Zorcron@piefed.zip 14 points 2 days ago

It can happen. Systemic absorption as opposed to only local effects of eye drops can have a big impact, and if you’re trying to poison someone, you’re probably putting in most of a bottle of eye drops (5-15ml) instead of the few drops you would put in your eye, so potentially a ~100x higher dose.

Just thinking briefly about it, I think the more dangerous eye drops would cause lower blood pressure if taken orally or potential kidney problems depending on the drug.

It would probably have to be a high dose to seriously affect a healthy young person, but an older person or someone with underlying health issues or other interacting medications could more easily be affected.

load more comments (2 replies)

[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 29 points 2 days ago

The “it’s too cold” logic doesn’t really hold up. A spider could be in a warmer place like indoors or her car and then have gotten in the bag. Of course, her claims don’t make much sense, either. She could have just fled. Of course, I’m no psychological expert regarding phobia driven behavior. Anyway, if she did want to harm the customers for some reason, that’s wild that she sprayed it on the porch and not just on the street or in her car. I suppose maybe if she did t want to get pepper spray inside her vehicle.

[-] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago

I think that if it was a phobia-driven thing that she has no control over, it implies that she is unable to prevent herself from being a danger to others and should have her freedoms restricted to mitigate that risk. Like being limited from handling food or not being allowed to carry things that might harm others in the vicinity when she unleashes them on a spider that frightens her. Probably shouldn't be allowed to drive, either.

[-] velindora@lemmy.cafe 41 points 2 days ago

Anyone who thinks pepper spray is what you use on spiders should be locked up.

[-] PhobosAnomaly@feddit.uk 28 points 2 days ago

Absolutely.

You need a lighter in front of the nozzle first. This isn't amateur hour.

[-] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io 21 points 2 days ago

Please don't harm spiders.

[-] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 25 points 2 days ago

How many legs are you typing this with right now?

[-] ninjabard@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago

The normal amount. I want to say, five?

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] sheridan@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago

Did she open up the packaging and spray directly on the food? Article doesn't say that. Usually food delivery comes in a bag that's stapled or taped shut, and the items in the bag are in their own closed containers, except maybe for fries. I'm just not clear on how the spray could have gotten onto the food.

load more comments (3 replies)

[-] FlyingSpaceCow@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago

Simpsons did it.

Mmmmm... incapacitating

[-] Psythik@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I believe her, because why the fuck would you do this in front of their home with a camera, instead of driving to a secluded place and tampering with it there? I'm not buying the "too cold for spiders to be out" excuse from the homeowners, either.

Something's not adding up, here. Why would she tamper with it to begin with? Was the customer being a Karen to the driver or something? I need more context.

[-] LesserAbe@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

Well which is it, that she tried to pepper spray a winter spider, or that the victim had it coming?

[-] TassieTosser@aussie.zone 9 points 1 day ago

Maybe they didn't tip. You yanks get unhinged over tipping.

[-] FlyingSpaceCow@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 day ago

It's frankly criminal that tips are a mandatory component of food service in Canada/US.

You're expected to tip a base amount regardless of service quality -- as that's how the pay/hours are structured.(If you don't tip then you're effectively stealing from the worker)

The assholes who don't tip (or under tip) get basically no punishment and are financially rewarded for their shitty behaviour.

All while some servers/bartenders get laughably overpaid. (At least from my perspective as someone who worked many 12 hour shifts as a line cook way back when).

(None of this is to say that tampering with someone's food is ever okay)

[-] Psythik@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

I dunno about that. When I delivered food for an app, you didn't get tipped until after the food was delivered.

[-] Hazmatastic@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

The apps mention that higher tips incentivize faster delivery from drivers to encourage users to do it. That would only make sense if you got a preview of the tip when the order is placed. If the tip gets changed to something lower after you've done the legwork under the assumption of a higher reward, I can see that being frustrating. I've also seen "If the tip is below $X per mile, I'm not taking the order" and similar comments online from driver communities. Haven't done it myself, but maybe things have changed

[-] prole 3 points 1 day ago

People are fucking stupid and crazy, there truly does not need to be a reason

load more comments

this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2025

234 points (100.0% liked)

News

33628 readers

2312 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil

Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.

2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.

Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.

3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.

Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.

4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.

Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.

5. Only recent news is allowed.

Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.

6. All posts must be news articles.

No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.

7. No duplicate posts.

If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.

8. Misinformation is prohibited.

Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.

9. No link shorteners.

The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.

10. Don't copy entire article in your post body

For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

JonsJava@lemmy.world

gedaliyah@lemmy.world

little_cow@lemmy.world