The DoorDash delivery driver who was allegedly caught on camera pepper-spraying the food she had just placed on a porch has explained her actions.
A married couple in Indiana were left 'choking and gasping' after they opened their delivery and began eating, with husband Mark Cardin noticing that their meal had been tampered with and there was 'some kind of spray all over it'.
He told Storyful that this led him to check his doorbell footage, which showed a delivery person with distinctive purple hair approaching their home with a bag. With the sound of dogs barking in the background, the individual places the bag down and appears to take a picture of it.
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They then seemingly spray the package with a small canister and walk away. Police have now arrested DoorDash driver Kourtney Stevenson in relation to the December 7 incident, who told officers that she had been aiming at a spider on the ground.
Kentucky resident Stevenson was arrested by McCracken County Sheriff’s Office and has been charged with felony battery and consumer product tampering, according to local law enforcement.
In a statement on the day of her arrest, December 12, police in Indiana said that she 'told detectives that she used pepper spray, not on the food, but to spray a spider she said she saw while making the delivery'.
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She said she had been visiting her father in Evansville, Indiana, and decided to pick up a DoorDash delivery along the way when the alleged spider incident unfolded.
However, her explanation of arachnophobia was discredited by the force, which detailed: "She explained that she is terrified of spiders. The overnight low was 35°F. "
Vanderburgh Sheriff’s Office added: "At that temperature, outdoor spiders in Indiana are not active and would not be capable of crawling on exposed surfaces."
They also revealed that Stevenson had agreed to attend an interview with detectives but bailed on the meeting, prompting a warrant for her arrest.
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"Stevenson later called and said she was not going to come in for an interview as scheduled. Detectives prepared an arrest affidavit," the force said.
"A warrant for Stevenson’s arrest was prepared and issued charging Stevenson with two counts of Battery Resulting in Moderate Injury as Level 6 felonies and 2 counts of Consumer Product Tampering as Level 5 felonies."
On Friday, December 12, she was being held in a Kentucky jail awaiting a transfer to Indiana.
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DoorDash confirmed to NBC News that Stevenson had been removed from their platform and said: “We have absolutely zero tolerance for this type of appalling behavior.”
Vanderburgh County Sheriff Noah Robinson said that Indiana residents should be able to trust that the food 'they order for their families is safe'.
He said in a statement: “This is embarrassing for them. But I mean they’re a huge company, they have to depend on a lot of folks to carry out their operations.
"It’s impossible to hire people, the breadth of people they have to hire into these jobs and know what’s in somebody’s heart. But the company seemed to take immediate action to get in front of it, so I would consider them cooperative, and certainly wouldn’t discourage anyone from using their services in anyway."
William Morgan