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.
63 Comments
yeahiknow3@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 106 pts · 271d
Don’t tamper with food, it’s a serious felony. Unless you’re a multinational corporation poisoning everyone including children. That’s acceptable.
criss_cross@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 270d
Door dashers don’t have the funds and corporate connections to legally sicken and kill people.
Natanael@infosec.pub · 7 pts · 269d
Hello Nestlé
VitoRobles@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 269d
"We're sorry..." Naked man on a bear rug
CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 270d
Or a government agency targeting brown infants riding by in a car then it's also acceptable to pepper spray.
yesman@lemmy.world · 53 pts · 271d
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 · 11 pts · 271d
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 · 24 pts · 271d
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
naeap@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 270d
Makes sense, but single drops already can trigger that?
Natanael@infosec.pub · 3 pts · 269d
If it's for medicinal purposes, absolutely. There's a reason every organ has multiple layers of their own filtering so stuff don't end up in the wrong place, and lots of medicines are really potent stuff that absolutely shouldn't end up in places where there's no filtering in place for that kind of chemical. Very tiny amounts of literal neurotoxins can be used medicinally by putting them in the right places, and the very same very tiny amounts would kill you instantly if put in the wrong places.
Zorcron@piefed.zip · 14 pts · 270d
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.
otp@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 271d
They're sensitive to different things
JeanValjean@piefed.social · 4 pts · 270d
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352007822001238
Phegan@lemmy.world · 43 pts · 270d
magnetosphere@fedia.io · 32 pts · 270d
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 · 4 pts · 270d
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 · 10 pts · 270d
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 pts · 269d
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 pts · 270d
Food tampering is minor now
Psythik@lemmy.world · -16 pts · 270d
Read my other comment in this comment section. I really don't think that's what was going on here. Cause why would she fuck with their food right in front of a camera? Something else is going on beyond the narrative the police are spinning.
And even if the police are right, food tampering is in fact a minor crime compared to say, murder. The police only have so many resources. They have to prioritize what's worth pursuing and what is minor enough to let go.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 6 pts · 270d
You're thinking way too hard about this. She's stupid, that's why.
SSUPII@sopuli.xyz · 6 pts · 270d
Food tampering can absolutely kill someone, and it did. This is not the case of someone trying to pass petty items at a Walmart.
Microtonal_Banana@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 270d
Food tampering is a felony.
zeppo@lemmy.world · 29 pts · 271d
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.
velindora@lemmy.cafe · 41 pts · 271d
Anyone who thinks pepper spray is what you use on spiders should be locked up.
PhobosAnomaly@feddit.uk · 30 pts · 271d
Absolutely.
You need a lighter in front of the nozzle first. This isn't amateur hour.
Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io · 23 pts · 271d
Please don't harm spiders.
MagicShel@lemmy.zip · 27 pts · 271d
How many legs are you typing this with right now?
ninjabard@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 270d
The normal amount. I want to say, five?
PhobosAnomaly@feddit.uk · 10 pts · 271d
Nah I jest. Spidey bois are our friends, they're unsung heroes of the pest-killing world.
I'm still not a fan though.
davad@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 271d
Sounds like, whatever her reason, she did it on an impulse.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 269d
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.
sheridan@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 271d
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.
XeroxCool@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 270d
I'm guessing indirect contact. Spray on bag, touch bag, take out food, eat finger food, potentially lick fingers, too.
RagingRobot@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 270d
Then lick the back clean too of course
XeroxCool@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 270d
My neck, my back
LesserAbe@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 271d
Best detail I think is that they door dashed Arby's.
RagingRobot@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 270d
It's not even very good fresh I can't imagine how bad it would be delivered.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 269d
Wtf is Arby's doing in other areas? I've always found their beef n cheddars to die for, to the point that it took me a while to discover they have other good sandwhiches, too. Their bbq sauce and horsey sauce are both great, and their curly fries. At least that's the case in Canada, though even here it's hard to find a location.
SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today · 6 pts · 270d
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.
VitoRobles@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 269d
Ok actually never thought about that.
Grubhub probably loving this.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 269d
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 · 2 pts · 268d
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.
FlyingSpaceCow@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 270d
Simpsons did it.
Mmmmm... incapacitating
SkyezOpen@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 270d
OK but... That could've just been the Arby's food.
VitoRobles@lemmy.today · 0 pts · 269d
If anything, it was already pepper sprayed twice already before the dasher picked it up.
CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 270d
Wait, what was the order? If it was capsaicin spray, maybe they were just trying to comply with direction to make it extra spicy? /s
SlurpingPus@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 270d
Someone on Reddit recounted once how their friend likes food so spicy that they in fact carry capsaicin spray with them to restaurants and spray it on their meals.
Dasus@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 269d
When I was in the army, the MP's all used their mace as spice.
But there are also other types of irritants, not all of which are as harmless when eaten.
Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io · -4 pts · 271d
My first question: Has Stevenson made deliveries to this address before, and what was that experience like? Is this an ongoing relationship with these customers? Or is this just a random act of criminality, in front of a camera? I guess I have a lot of questions.
Edit: Don't they like chili / spicy in Indiana?
OccamsRazer@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 271d
Does it matter? Under what circumstances would these actions be justified?
MountingSuspicion@reddthat.com · 8 pts · 270d
Not the person you're responding to, but I had the same questions. They didn't come to mind as looking for a justification, only that it could possibly give some additional context. If she delivered there before and they had gotten into a verbal altercation for example, it would shed even more doubt on any excuse she might make. I'm not saying there's no way she did that for no reason or for her cited reason, but it's possible that a motive for doing that might be clear if we had that additional information.
frongt@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 270d
If the food stood up and attacked her. But it doesn't appear to have been the case.
baines@lemmy.cafe · -3 pts · 270d
you ever work customer service?
not messing with people’s food but i can think of multiple shit customers deserving a good pepper spraying
raviiishing@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 269d
I've worked customer service and comments like yours always come from stupid people.
baines@lemmy.cafe · 1 pts · 269d
I’ve see multiple coworkers go home in tears over an interaction with a customer
bud sure bud you must be special
phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 270d
Two grains of black pepper in a large casserole counts as spicy in Indiana. They're at homeopathic spice levels.
Psythik@lemmy.world · -9 pts · 270d
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 · 13 pts · 270d
Well which is it, that she tried to pepper spray a winter spider, or that the victim had it coming?
TassieTosser@aussie.zone · 7 pts · 270d
Maybe they didn't tip. You yanks get unhinged over tipping.
FlyingSpaceCow@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 270d
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 pts · 270d
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 · 4 pts · 270d
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@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 270d
People are fucking stupid and crazy, there truly does not need to be a reason