Coquitlam woman criminally charged after coughing on grocery clerk

One woman may be the first person in B.C. to have been charged with assault for coughing on another civilian.

A 25-year old Coquitlam woman is facing criminal charges after allegedly coughing on a grocery store clerk who wouldn’t let her buy extra tissues.

This incident occurred on April 13 at about 1:45 p.m. at the IGA on Parkway Boulevard in Coquitlam. A store employee called the police after the angry woman deliberately coughed on the clerk when she was told she had already purchased the maximum amount of tissues allowed.

A week before this incident, a 24-year-old Coquitlam man was charged with a similar coughing assault on a police officer.

Police spoke with witnesses and reviewed security footage from the grocery store, and then arrested the woman at her home. The woman has no significant history with police, according to a media release from the Coquitlam RCMP. She has been released and is expected to appear in court on July 13, 2020.

“This is a great example of why we need to keep perspective, take a breath, and treat essential workers like grocery store clerks with the respect they deserve”, says Cpl. Michael McLaughlin with the Coquitlam RCMP in the release. “Whether you deliberately cough on police, hospital workers, or grocery clerks, abuse or assaults against essential workers will not be tolerated.”

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