Mentally ill SF woman not guilty of spitting on, hitting Starbucks barista

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A mentally ill San Francisco woman accused of spitting on and striking a Starbucks barista with a granola bar was found not guilty of all charges this week, officials said Thursday.

Surveillance footage from the store, which is near San Francisco’s Chinatown, showed Carrie Moon, 44, behaving erratically, shedding articles of clothing and approaching the counter, said the San Francisco public defender’s office.

Video of the incident from August shows Moon does not spit food on the barista, said her attorney, Nick Vangrin. However, it does show she threw a handful of granola bars toward the cash register.

“Ms. Moon was suffering from mental delusions and hallucinations that made her unaware of what she was doing,” Vangrin said, adding that the case is an example of how people sometimes overreact when encountering someone who deals with mental illness.

The jury deliberated for five hours before finding Moon not guilty of battery.

“Until San Francisco better addresses the need for more mental health support services, people like Ms. Moon will sometimes find themselves in a dangerous position after police officers are called,” Public Defender Jeff Adachi said in a statement. “But video surveillance footage doesn’t lie. Fortunately for Ms. Moon, the video was able to prove what really happened.”

Gwendolyn Wu is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gwendolynawu