An Iowa man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for attacking and coughing on a person who asked him to wear his mask properly.
Shane Wayne Michael, 42, apparently flew into a rage after a man requested that he pull his mask up over his nose in a Des Moines eyewear shop in November, according to local reports.
The victim said Michael followed him to his car, cornered him in the parking lot — and then knocked him to the ground, gouged his eye and kneed him in the groin, according to The Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Michael then coughed in the man’s face, spit on him and said, “‘If I have it, you have it,” referring to COVID-19, the report said.
The Saylor Township resident was convicted last month of willful injury causing serious injury, and sentenced on Wednesday, according to The Des Moines Register.
Micheal claimed he was acting in self defense and only jabbed his finger in the man’s eye after the man bit him, the outlet said. The victim admitted he bit Michael after being kneed in the groin.
The incident is one of the more severe face mask disputes to arise during the coronavirus pandemic.
An Asian woman was punched in the face by a man who she asked to wear a mask in a Lower East Side shop in April.
A month earlier, another Asian woman was attacked in Midtown by a man who was angry she wasn’t masked up outside.
“Where is your corona mask, you Asian b—h,” the female suspect yelled as she punched the woman, sources said.
