NIAGARA FALLS, Ont.—A Kitchener woman is in hot water after allegedly slapping a U.S. border officer during an ill-fated trip to Niagara Falls.

American officials said 40-year-old Tianna Natasha McPherson was arrested Sept. 2 at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing, where she had been dropped off by cab with the intention of visiting Niagara Falls State Park in New York.

A U.S. Attorney’s report states that due to “derogatory information” about McPherson’s past behaviour while crossing the border, she was taken aside for secondary inspection, denied admittance into the U.S. and told she would be returned to Canada.

At this point, officials say she became verbally combative and unco-operative. They said she insisted she was an American citizen and tried to leave. When a Customs and Border Protection officer blocked the exit and told her to sit down, the report says McPherson challenged the officer and “open-hand slapped the officer on the left side of her face.”

McPherson was arrested and charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer of the United States, and is being held in custody. The charge carries a maximum penalty of eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Her next detention hearing is set for Thursday.