A Campbell River woman has been found guilty of assault and causing a disturbance after an incident in which she deliberately coughed on employees in the citysa国际传媒檚 Save-On Foods grocery store during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, screamed and yelled profanely about the sa国际传媒渇akesa国际传媒� pandemic and rammed one of the employees with a grocery cart.
The charges arose out of an incident on April 24, 2020, a time in which early COVID-19 public health measures had been instituted, such as cordoning off the storesa国际传媒檚 check-out area in order to prevent congestion and people coming within six feet of each other. On that day, Kimberly Brenda Woolman entered the store and confronted an employee about why the areas had been cordoned off, Judge Barbara Flewelling says in her .
The employee explained the store policy and the requirement to comply with public health orders.
sa国际传媒淢s. Woolman told her COVID was not real and that it was stupid,sa国际传媒� Judge Flewelling says. sa国际传媒淲hen asked if she would obey the social distancing rules, Ms. Woolman replied sa国际传媒榥o.sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒�
Woolman was then told to leave the store but Woolman only repeated that COVID was not real and walked away from the entrance and exit area. The employee followed at the required six-foot distance, repeatedly asked Woolman to leave if she wouldnsa国际传媒檛 follow the guidelines. Throughout this period, Woolman screamed at the employee that COVID was not real and it was fake.
Woolman at one point, stopped abruptly, causing the employee to stop about three feet away from her. Woolman then turned and faced the employee, leaned towards her and sa国际传媒渇orcibly coughedsa国际传媒� in the direction of the employeesa国际传媒檚 face, the judge says.
Woolman was repeatedly asked to leave the store immediately which she refused to do. The pair made their way down the aisle towards the back of the store, all the while Woolman continued to yell that COVID was not real. Other employees attended the situation, eventually involving five. They attempted to de-escalate the situation by directing Woolman out of the store, encircling her and moving forward so she would leave.
All the while, the original employee testified that Woolman sa国际传媒渃ontinued to scream and yell at the top of her lungs,sa国际传媒� the judge says.
One employee testified that Woolmansa国际传媒檚 yelling was getting louder with lots of swearing.
sa国际传媒淪he was yelling that sa国际传媒楥OVID was not fucking real,sa国际传媒� sa国际传媒榡ust a flusa国际传媒� and they were all sa国际传媒榝ucking stupid,sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� Judge Flewelling says. sa国际传媒淎ccording to (the witness) she sa国际传媒榢ept screaming it over and over.sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒�
A fifth employee arrived at the scene to help the others. Woolman had merchandise in the cart which she had not paid for so the fifth employee took hold of the front of the cart to prevent Woolman from leaving. Woolman tried to wrestle the cart out of the employeesa国际传媒檚 hands and pushed it directly into him. Woolman claimed she needed the cart to help her walk to her vehicle. The employee retrieved an empty cart to help her get to her vehicle.
The original employee who testififed that Woolman coughed on her was shaken and concerned about infection. She reported the incident and, following advice, went home, cleaned her clothes and showered and monitored herself for any symptoms. She returned to work the next day.
All this was going on in a busy store.
sa国际传媒淎t the time of these events, the store was following the social distancing orders,sa国际传媒� the judge says. sa国际传媒�(Another employee) described that people were panic buying and the checkouts were very busy.sa国际传媒�
The judge says in her reasons for judgement that she was satisfied that coughing on the employee constituted assault as did pushing the cart into another employee. She also ruled that Woolmansa国际传媒檚 behaviour constituted a disturbance to store employees and customers
Judge Flewelling delivered her guilty verdict on all three counts on April 13. Woolman was to appear in Campbell River Provincial Court April 25 to set a date for sentencing.
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