In April 2004, Louise Ogborn was a 18-year-old employee at a McDonald’s restaurant in Mount Washington, Kentucky. She was about to begin her shift when the store received a phone call from a man claiming to be a police officer. The caller—later identified as David R. Stewart—told the store’s assistant manager that an employee matching Ogborn’s description had stolen a purse from a customer.

The entire ordeal was captured on the restaurant's internal security system. While snippets and descriptions of the surveillance footage became central to subsequent legal proceedings, the full, unedited video was heavily restricted by authorities to protect the privacy and dignity of the victim.