The Kern County District Attorney’s Office formally charged 21-year-old McDonald’s employee Tatyana Hargrove on Tuesday with a felony attempted food tampering charge and a misdemeanor battery charge.
Hargrove is alleged to have tampered with the food of a Bakersfield Police officer on Nov. 12.
The food tampering came one month after Hargrove lost an excessive force lawsuit against the Bakersfield Police Department.
In 2017, Hargrove was mistaken by officers as a male assailant armed with a machete. While detained at the time, a police dog bit her.
A Federal jury ruled in favor of the City of Bakersfield, finding that the officers acted reasonably during the incident.
Newly-filed court documents state that Hargrove videotaped rubbing a hamburger on the floor.
Separately, prosecutors report witnesses saying that Hargrove was “heard gathering saliva in her throat before spitting on the burger.”
The officer who ordered the food was not involved in the alleged excessive force incident from 2017.
Hargrove is scheduled to be arraigned in Kern County Superior Court on Dec. 18.
If convicted of the attempted food tampering charge, she faces a sentence of two to five years in state prison.
