Tom GantertHolly, MI – A 68-year-old man was arrested after he wiped his nose and face on a Dollar Tree employee’s shirt on Saturday when she asked him to wear a mask inside the store (video below).
The incident happened at about 1:30 p.m. on May 2 at the Dollar Tree located in the 400-block of North Saginaw Street south of Grange Hall Road, according to the Detroit News.
The store had signage posted that said all customers must wear masks while inside the store due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But surveillance video from inside the store showed what happened when a female clerk pointed that out to a customer.
The video showed the female clerk was stocking a shelf near the end of an aisle when a man – later identified as 68-year-old Rex Gomoll, walked past her and was not wearing a mask.
The clerk told the man that customers must wear a mask while inside the store.
The Holly Police Department, in a post to their official Facebook page, said the clerk also told the man that there were signs posted at the entrance about the policy.
That’s when the video showed Gomoll turned and walked back the way he came, as though he were leaving.
But then he suddenly turned and approached the employee.
The video showed Gomoll bent over and wiped his nose and face on the store clerk’s shirt.
Police said that he told the employee, “Here, I will use this as a mask,” the Detroit News reported.
The police department’s Facebook post said the man continued to be loud and disruptive before he left the store in a white van.
Gomoll was identified shortly after Holly police shared the video of the assault on social media on Monday morning
Police said that a viewer tip helped detectives identify Gomoll as the suspect.
He was arrested late Monday and booked into the Oakland County Jail, WJBK reported.
Gomoll is facing charges of assault and battery and was expected to be arraigned on Wednesday.
He may have to be tested for coronavirus as a condition of his bond, WJBK reported.
A friend told the television station that the assault might have been meant as a joke because Gomoll has a weird sense of humor and finds things funny that other people do not.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order on April 24 that mandated residents must wear face masks when in enclosed public places, the Detroit Free Press reported.
But not every business is enforcing the face mask order.
As of May 6, Michigan has had 44,397 residents test positive for coronavirus and 4,179 people have died, according to Bing’s COVID-19 Tracker.
Watch video of the incident here below: