On Thursday, a woman enraged by a young couple enjoying a picnic in a dog park in San Diego while not wearing masks reportedly maced the couple.
Ash O’Brien, her husband Jarrett Kelley and their three-month-old puppy were enjoying the sun in Rhodes Dog Park when a woman in a black face mask targeted the couple with pepper spray, prompting Kelley, who was temporarily blinded, to attempt to grab the canister from the irate woman, who was accompanied by her dog.
One female witness admonished the woman, “’What are you doing? You just maced him! You just maced them and their food because you disagree.”
O’Brien stated on Facebook that the woman had started her rage-filled actions by calling her and her husband “idiots’ and flipping O’Brien off. O’Brien added, “We were not wearing masks because we were eating. You can’t wear a mask and eat at the same time. … Then she started saying more stuff and I told her to leave the park and stop harassing us. She then came right up to our table wear (sic) 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.”
O’Brien told ABC 10, “She just came up without saying anything and just stuck the mace can right in front of my face. My husband, being a good guy, walked in front of her and was like ‘Hey, calm down, please don’t do this’ and then she grabbed him and just starting macing him; she used the entire can on him.” She continued, “We drove to the hospital; he got treated and everything,” adding, “I want her to go to jail; she assaulted my husband, and I’m angry about it.”
O’Brien noted, “If we knew there was a no food policy, we wouldn’t have brought it into the park. 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. People don’t need to be getting assaulted for not wearing a mask in a public outdoor area.”
She noted later on Facebook:
My husband is a very mature man and I wouldn’t have wanted him to handle the situation any other way. All we want from this, is for her to get arrested so she can’t put any people or animals at risk. We are not looking for money or anything like that. We just want this woman in jail.
In June, the California Department of Health issued guidance for the use of face coverings that stated that citizens were exempt from wearing masks if they were “seated at a restaurant or other establishment that offers food or beverage service, while they are eating or drinking, provided that they are able to maintain a distance of at least six feet away from persons who are not members of the same household or residence.”
A witness jotted down the enraged woman’s license plate number.