Ash Sherilynn O’Brien & Jarrett Kelley maced by elderly woman at Rhodes Dog Park in San Diego not wearing face mask while having picnic lunch.
A woman is alleged to have maced a couple in a California dog park because they weren’t wearing face masks while having a picnic lunch together amid the ongoing coronavirus.
Ash Sherilynn O’Brien and Jarrett Kelley and their three-month-old puppy had gone to the Rhodes Dog Park in San Diego on Thursday when an ensuing confrontation with an un-identified woman transpired.
Footage taken by a witness begins halfway through the confrontation and shows the woman, wearing a black face mask, pepper spraying Kelley.
O’Brien is heard in the background as Kelley tries to wrestle the pepper spray canister out of the woman’s hands.
The woman stops upon being confronted by witnesses, while Kelley is temporarily blinded by the pepper spray.
‘What is your problem? You just maced him!’ one female witness says. A man beside her adds, ‘That’s just wrong!’
‘You just maced them and their food because you disagree,’ the female witness adds.
The unidentified woman and her dog leave the park without another word.
According to O’Brien, the couple had just sat down for lunch and were not wearing face masks because they were eating food.
She claims the woman bothered them first by calling them ‘idiots’ and flipping O’Brien off.
‘We were not wearing masks because we were eating. You can’t wear a mask and eat at the same time,’ wrote O’Brien in a Facebook post.
‘Then she started saying more stuff and I told her to leave the park and stop harassing us.’
‘I want her to go to jail’
O’Brien said the woman then approached the table the couple was eating at and without warning aimed the pepper spray.
‘She then came right up to our table wear we were eating, pointed the mace at me first and got a little on me, and then my husband stepped in and took the entire can,’ posted O’Brien.
The couple drove to the hospital for Kelley to receive medical treatment afterwards.
The husband and wife now say they want the woman to face jail time and have filed a misdemeanor battery report with the local police department.
‘I want her to go to jail, she assaulted my husband, and I’m angry about it,’ O’Brien told ABC 10.
She added that Rhodes Dog Park does not have a food policy and if there had been one, they wouldn’t have brought food.
California face mask policy
‘The lady who maced him automatically started saying stuff about us not wearing a mask when we were social distancing; there was no one near us.’
O’Brien said she’s happy that none of the dogs were harmed during the incident.
‘People don’t need to be getting assaulted for not wearing a mask in a public outdoor area,’ said O’Brien.
The state of California implemented a face covering mandate as cases and deaths continue to climb.
While residents are required to wear face coverings throughout daily life, the California Department of Public Health specified that individuals can remove masks when dining at establishments that offer food.
California surpassed New York for the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, bringing the state’s number to 440,560 infections and 8,340 deaths.
As of Saturday evening, there are more than 10,000 new positive cases and 151 new deaths.
There is a 8 per cent seven-day positivity rate and a 7.5 per cent 14-day positivity rate.
