Unhinged hardware store worker shoves customer with bat, throws punches after COVID-19 mask dispute: 'That's not customer service'



It would seem that social distancing wasn't too high up on the COVID-19 protocol list for one Seattle hardware store worker caught on cellphone video shoving a customer with a bat and then throwing punches.

What are the details?

Bobby Dixon told KOMO-TV he and a friend entered Tweedy and Popp Hardware at Lake City to buy screws on Sunday. Dixon said he wore a mask but his friend didn't, the station said, adding that signs posted on the front doors told customers that face coverings were required.

Dixon told KOMO that employees told his friend to mask up or leave — but his friend informed them he was fully vaccinated. The station said employees indicated mask-wearing was a store policy, and then things went downhill fast.

"It was a cussing match back and forth between them," Dixon told KOMO.

The station said Dixon's friend turned to go back outside, and Dixon headed for the cash register. But Dixon told KOMO that because the cashier was crude and offensive to him, as he was walking out he decided to stop, turn around, and head back to complain about the poor treatment.

"You work in customer service, and if you're going to be rude, I'm going to take your name down and give it to your boss," Dixon added to the station.

Then bat man showed up — which is when the video begins.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @jasonrantz

"You're going to hit me with that bat? You taunt me with that bat?" Dixon is heard asking the bat-wielding employee, who ends up shoving Dixon out the door and punching him.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @jasonrantz

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @jasonrantz

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @jasonrantz

"It was actually quite terrifying," Dixon told KOMO. "I've never had anybody come at me with a weapon like that, and it was flight or fight, and I was trying to get out of there, and he kept coming at me super aggressively."

Jason Rantz of KTTH-AM said Dixon's friend recorded the video of the fight, which shows Dixon beginning to fight back and landing a kick:

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @jasonrantz

Dixon manages to knock down the employee, and the pair wrestle:

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @jasonrantz

Things soon come to a close, and the employee heads back into the store — but Dixon and his friend continue to exchange words with both store employees.

Here's the clip. (Content warning: Language):

A fight broke out at the Lake City Ace Hardware over masks. When Bobby says he went to complain about poor customer… https://t.co/7xqr2x6DuT

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) 1623784635.0

Now what?

KOMO said store employees refused to speak to the station about the incident, and messages left at the corporate offices of Ace Hardware — which supplies the store — were not immediately returned.

The station added that a report was filed with Seattle police, and detectives said they are trying to sort out conflicting versions of the incident. Police told KOMO that the employee they contacted claimed neither customer was wearing a mask. Dixon told the station he had a mask on while inside the store — but the cellphone video shows him not wearing a mask.

In addition, the police report indicates the store employee claimed both men attacked him even though the video shows only Dixon fighting the store employee.

"I wasn't threatening, I never made any threats, and neither did my friend," Dixon told Rantz during his KTTH radio show. "I never touched the dude until he came at me, and I was just trying to defend myself."

Dixon added to Rantz, "I wasn't trying to fight. I just kept trying to de-fuse the situation. And you know, you look in the video, he kept just coming towards me, and you even hear me tell him 'stop.'"

According to Rantz, Dixon said he intends to press charges and that the employee "will have to be terminated."

"That's not customer service, and that's not acceptable, and Ace Hardware needs to handle that," Dixon added to Rantz.

Dixon also said Ace Hardware should release surveillance video from inside the store and that it will prove he's telling the truth, Rantz reported.

"I'm kind of shook up," Dixon told Rantz. "It's kind of humiliating because I'm trying to run a business out here, and it's not a good look for a business owner to be involved in something like that, but I want to clear the air."

Grocery cashier killed over alleged mask dispute in Georgia; suspect, off-duty cop also wounded



Police said a dispute over mask requirements led to a lethal shooting in a Georgia grocery store on Monday with one fatality and two people injured.

DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox told reporters in a media briefing that the incident began when a male walked into a Big Bear grocery store in DeKalb County about 1 p.m. and argued with employees about the mask requirement.

The man left the store without completing his purchase but then walked back in. He then allegedly pulled out a handgun, shot and killed the female cashier.

Maddox said an off-duty deputy was at the scene on his part-time job, and he fired at the suspect, striking him.

"That is what he's trained to do, that's part of his 30-year career in law enforcement," Maddox said of the off-duty deputy. "All of us here are trained to intervene and to respond."

The suspect then fired back at the deputy, striking him twice. The suspect was arrested by responding officers while he was trying to crawl out of the store.

Both men were hospitalized after the incident. The off-duty officer was listed in stable condition, according to reports. The suspect is also listed in stable condition.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation tweeted later that they had identified the suspect as 30-year-old Victor Lee Tucker Jr. Authorities added that a second cashier had been grazed by a bullet during the shooting.

"I seen him when he walked in, he started just slapping the lady about something, I don't know what it was, and then he started shootin'," said an eyewitness to WXIA-TV.

"He just walks in the store, past the guard, past me, and just starts hittin' her with the gun," he added.

A large sign outside the store read, "No Mask, No Service."

Here's more about the lethal mask dispute in Georgia:

DeKalb deputy injured, cashier killed in DeKalb County shootingwww.youtube.com

Alaska Airlines bans state lawmaker over mask dispute, so she's forced to take 19-hour trip by ferry and road to the capital



An Alaska state lawmaker was forced to take a 19-hour road and ferry trip to the capital after Alaska Airlines banned her over her refusal to follow the mask requirements.

"We have notified Senator Lora Reinbold that she is not permitted to fly with us for her continued refusal to comply with employee instruction regarding the current mask policy," said an Alaska Airlines spokesperson to the Anchorage Daily News on Saturday.

Reinbold, a Republican, had been very vocal about her resentment over the airline's mask policy.

On Sunday, she posted photos from her ferry trip back to Juneau on Facebook.

"Alaska I went to new heights to serve you & have a new appreciation for the marine ferry system. I am keenly aware of the monopoly in air transport to Juneau that needs reviewed! Please thank my husband for giving up his birthday to make a long unexpected trip to Juneau by road/ferry system!" she wrote in part.

The New York Times reported that without taking a flight, the trip from the Anchorage area to Juneau by ferry and road takes more than 19 hours.

Reinbold complained on Facebook that the ban was implemented without any warning.

"There was no due process before a temporary decision that is 'under review' was made public," she said. "Alaska Airlines sent information, including my name, to the media without my knowledge nor permission. I do believe constitutional rights are at risk under corporate COVID policies."

The ban came after video surfaced of Reinbold arguing with Alaska Airlines employees at the gate in the Juneau International Airport about her mask, which was not covering her nose at the time.

"Mask bullies in full force," Reinbold complained in a previous incident with Alaska Airlines. "Sadly Alaska Airlines is part of mask tyranny."

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, also a Republican, admonished Reinbold in a letter in February for spreading misinformation about his administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Here's a local news report about the ban:

VIDEO: Airline bans Alaska state senator for violating mask ruleswww.youtube.com

Cellphone video shows man claiming he has coronavirus and spitting at women because they weren't wearing face masks



A man was caught on cellphone video spitting at two young women and telling them he has the coronavirus after he argued with them for not wearing face masks.

The alarming incident unfolded near Boston on Nov. 15 and led to his arrest by police on Tuesday.

The video showed the man approach the woman recording and spit on the ground in her direction. He says, "I have COVID! I've been tested positive!"

He then spits on the ground in her direction again.

"Are you OK?" asks the woman, to which the man responds, "No! You won't be soon!"

He spits a third time and laughs as he walks away.

In another portion of the video, the woman can be heard saying, "I don't care, I'm not gonna wear a mask when I'm outside!"

"That's not the law," the man responds.

Police said that the man was walking with a female companion when they allegedly accosted two female hikers for not wearing masks. He spat at them after arguing over the masks.

They later arrested 71-year-old Hale Powell of Westford. In the video, the man's companion appears to call him "Hale" several times as he accosts the women.

"That's not the right approach to deal with anything," laughed Lt. Chris Conrad of the Ashburnham police said to WBZ-TV. "It was hostile, it was inappropriate, it was threatening. And it could even be assault."

Police said that Powell had not tested positive for the coronavirus, despite what he said to the women. They charged him with false threat of a biological agent and assault and battery, which is a felony.

A judge ordered Powell to get tested for the coronavirus and to quarantine for 14 days.

Ashburnham Police Detective Robert Siano told the Sentinel & Sun that they were inundated with calls after asking for help from the public in identifying the man from the cellphone video.

Here's a news video about the incident:

Ashburnham Police Arrest Man Who Allegedly Spit At Hikers, Claimed 'I Have COVID'www.youtube.com

Man caught on video spitting at women hiking because they weren't wearing masks, tells them: 'I have COVID!'



The great mask debate rages on. The most recent ugly confrontation involving face coverings happened in Massachusetts where a man reportedly became so furious with hikers for not wearing face masks while hiking outdoors that he purposely spit at them.

Two young women were allegedly hiking in the Hudson Overlook on the Midstate Trail in Ashburnham on Nov. 15, according to the New York Post. A vexed man approached the hikers, who were not wearing face masks.

One of the women recorded the hostile encounter with the man, and video of the incident was posted on Twitter by WBZ-TV reporter Kristina Rex.

"'I have COVID,' this man in Ashburnham says as he spits in the direction of two women taking a hike Sunday afternoon," Rex wrote on Twitter. "Based on a verbal confrontation early in the video, he was upset the women were not wearing a mask while hiking. Now police are looking for him."

Footage shows the man walking toward the women and spitting at them, then he tells the women, "I have COVID, I've been tested positive." He starts to walk away, but then turns around and spits at the hikers a second time.

In the video, an older female is heard calling for the man, but he ignores her.

“I have COVID,” this man in Ashburnham says as he spits in the direction of two women taking a hike Sunday afternoo… https://t.co/4FsZNFxtY8
— Kristina Rex (@Kristina Rex)1605903287.0

Police say that the man was angry at the women for not wearing face masks, WBZ reported.

"He explained to them that it was the 'law' and that they were selfish," police said. "He aggressively turned towards them and stated, 'I have Covid' and began spitting at the young females."

"That's not the right approach to deal with anything," Ashburnham Police Lt. Chris Conrad said. "It was hostile, it was inappropriate, it was threatening and it could even be assaultive."

Police said the man could face charges up to assault. The Ashburnham Police Department asked the public for help identifying the suspect on its Facebook page.

"Again we don't have all the details on everything yet we need to speak with her again," Conrad said. "We're hoping the suspect comes forward so we can determine is there another side to this that we don't know about, that we didn't see on the video."

Two sisters allegedly stabbed a Chicago store employee 27 times after he told them to wear masks and use hand sanitizer



Chicago police say that two sisters held down a store employee and stabbed him 27 times after he told them to wear masks and use hand sanitizer provided by the business.

The startling incident unfolded on Sunday at Snipes, an athletic clothing store, in the North Lawndale neighborhood.

Police allege that 21-year-old Jessica Hill and her sister 18-year-old Jayla Hill entered the store at about 6 p.m. and were asked to put on masks and apply hand sanitizer over the coronavirus pandemic.

The two refused and began to argue with the 32-year-old man, according to police spokeswoman Karie James.

James says that the altercation became violent when one of the sisters punched the employee in the chest, and then Jayla Hill grabbed him by the hair as Jessica Hill stabbed him.

The man was stabbed 27 times in the chest, back and arms, and was later sent to Mount Sinai Hospital. Police say the sisters also struck him with a trash can and kicked him as he fell down.

The two women were arrested at the scene and treated for minor lacerations.

Prosecutors say that surveillance video and statements from witnesses show that the victim did not provoke the attack by striking or pushing the women.

The victim was hospitalized and received treatment, prosecutors said, noting he did have puncture wounds "all over his body," WTTW-TV reported. Another report said the man was in critical condition.

The women were charged with attempted murder and held without bond. A defense lawyer for the two women said in court that they had never been in trouble with the law, and were planning to attend college.

Cook County Judge Mary Catherine Marubio said she initially believed it was a domestic violence incident because of the unusual number of stab wounds.

"It's the complete randomness of this," Marubio said. "That's terrifying for a community."

Here's a local news report about the incident:

Sisters accused of stabbing employee 27 times after being told to wear maskswww.youtube.com