Woman Cops Plea In Freezer Urination Case

FEBRUARY 15--The Pennsylvania woman arrested for entering a grocery store’s walk-in freezer and urinating on $508 worth of baked goods has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge and been ordered to pay a fine for her disorderly conduct, according to court records.

Carrie Harkness copped a plea last week in connection with the bizarre December 18 incident at the Country Fair market in Meadville. Harkness, 23, was ordered to pay a $243.50 fine by a Crawford County judge.

As detailed in a probable cause affidavit, State Police troopers were summoned to the grocery store at about 5:00 AM. A clerk explained that Harkness, pictured at right, had entered the walk-in freezer and that she “could not get her to leave.” At one point, workers asked a woman who had accompanied Harkness to the store to help “get the defendant to come out of the freezer.”

When a Country Fair employee opened the freezer door, Harkness’s friend asked her “if she had gone pee in the freezer.” Harkness replied, “Yes, I did.”

Upon investigation, Trooper Robert Baldwin discovered “what appeared to be frozen liquid in the freezer floor and splatters of a frozen liquid on several boxes containing food.” According to the affidavit and a criminal complaint, the damaged baked goods included packaged cookies ($248), bagels ($36), and 2-bite cakes ($224).

Harkness pleaded guilty last Tuesday to a disorderly conduct citation. A misdemeanor criminal mischief charge was dropped by prosecutors as part of her plea deal. (3 pages)