SAN DIEGO — A trip to get some fast food turned into a nightmare for one California man after an encounter with a homeless woman and a syringe.
Just before noon last Thursday, Ralph Bedoe was in the drive-thru line at a Taco Bell on Midway Drive in San Diego. It was the busy lunch hour. He ordered but had to wait once he reached the pay window. As he waited, he saw a homeless woman in her 40s about 25 feet away.
"She was rambling, throwing up her hands, talking to herself," Bedoe said.
He says the woman hit the hood and window of a bus in the parking lot, before she headed toward him.
"She kind of hit my mirror and started rambling ... I said 'Do you need something?' Don't know if that's when something triggered," Bedoe said.
Bedoe's driver side window was open. His arm was resting there.
"All of a sudden she pulled up her left hand, which had a bag and a syringe with a needle sticking out. She pushed my hand into the car, and when she pushed my hand, the syringe entered my hand," he said.
The woman then smacked his window and wandered off.
"Disbelief, hoping you're going to wake up from this," Bedoe said.
As the shock wore off, the new father thought of his 6-month-old son.
"If I did contract something, how is that going to change my life with him? How is this going to change with length of life with him?" Bedoe said.
Bedoe must undergo seven months of blood tests to rule out a myriad of diseases, including Hepatitis and HIV. The uncertainty is nerve-wracking.
"A trip to Taco Bell should not end with a life-changing event," Bedoe said.
Bedoe was hit with a $3,400 dollar medical bill because he was switching over to new insurance and was not covered at the time. Police have obtained surveillance video from Taco Bell, but haven't yet to released it.
