DoorDash driver charged with felony food tampering after alleged pepper spray incident goes viral
A Kentucky woman is behind bars after allegedly pepper-spraying a DoorDash customer’s food — later telling authorities she had been aiming the substance at a spider.
Kourtney N. Stevenson was arrested Friday by the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office after a doorbell camera appeared to capture her spraying something on a customer's order during a delivery, an incident that left a married couple sick and quickly went viral online.
Stevenson is now facing multiple felony charges, including battery resulting in moderate injury and consumer product tampering, according to a news release from the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office.
"Residents should be able to trust that the food they order for their families is safe," Sheriff Noah Robinson said in a statement. "When someone violates that trust and endangers others, we will respond with urgency, and we will pursue charges."
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The case began on Dec. 7 in northern Vanderburgh County, Indiana, when Mark Cardin reported that he and his wife became ill shortly after receiving their late-night DoorDash order, local outlet 14 NEWS reported.
Both suffered burning sensations in their mouths, noses, throats and stomachs before vomiting, authorities said.
When the couple reviewed their doorbell camera footage, they saw the delivery driver — a woman with blue and purple hair — drop off the order, snap a photo, then spray a substance toward the food before walking away, according to the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office.
Records from DoorDash confirmed the driver was Stevenson, authorities said.
When detectives contacted Stevenson, she claimed she was pepper-spraying a spider she spotted during the delivery. However, investigators noted that temperatures dipped to 35 degrees Fahrenheit that night, which is too cold for outdoor spiders in Indiana to be active.
"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," the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office said. "She explained that she is terrified of spiders. The overnight low was 35 degrees Fahrenheit. At that temperature, outdoor spiders in Indiana are not active and would not be capable of crawling on exposed surfaces."
Stevenson also said she had been in Indiana visiting her father and doing DoorDash deliveries during her stay, officials said.
Stevenson has been charged with two level 6 felony counts of battery resulting in moderate injury, as well as two level 5 felony counts of consumer product tampering.
As of Friday, she was being held without bond until extradition to Indiana. The warrant carries a $3,500 cash bond, authorities said.
DoorDash confirmed to Fox News Digital last week that it had terminated Stevenson.
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Fox News Digital's Bonny Chu contributed to this report.