A Bakersfield woman pleaded not guilty Friday in connection with an alleged pepper spray attack on two taco stand vendors in Watts.
Renee Latrice Hines, 36, is charged with two counts each of battery and unlawful possession of tear gas and one count of use of tear gas, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Hines allegedly pepper-sprayed two vendors and struck one of the alleged victims in the head at a taco stand Sunday at Grandee Avenue and East 103rd Street, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Police said the alleged attack occurred after a female suspect was asked to pay for the food she had consumed.
On Wednesday, authorities identified Hines as a person of interest in the alleged attack. She was arrested by Los Angeles police at 8 p.m. Wednesday and has remained behind bars since then, jail records show.
Hines is due back in a Compton courtroom Aug. 25, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against her to proceed to trial.