Authorities in California are looking for a woman who they said intentionally coughed on a 1-year-old boy during an argument with the child’s mother.
The San Jose Police Department said in a press release that the incident occurred Friday at a Yogurtland in San Jose. At the time of the alleged assault, the unidentified suspect was reportedly inside of the establishment, standing in front of a woman with her baby who was in a stroller.
“The preliminary investigation revealed the suspect was upset the female was not maintaining proper social distancing, so the suspect removed her face mask, got close to the baby’s face, and coughed 2-3 times,” police alleged in a statement.
Woman purposely coughs on baby’s face after she hears the mother speaking Spanish from PublicFreakout
Mireya Mora identified herself as the toddler boy’s mother in an interview with KGO. While Mora claimed the suspect got mad that they were standing too close in line, she also believes Friday’s incident was racially motivated.
“I believe this woman may be racist because the family in front of her is white. Me and my grandma are Hispanic and she started telling me about my distance and harassing me and my son once I started speaking Spanish to my grandma,” the mother told KGO.
Mora also claimed that her son had a slight fever following Friday’s assault but he’s doing fine.
“If he were to get sick, it’s just, I can’t even imagine,” she said.
Police said the woman appears to be in her sixties and was wearing a gray bandana, long-sleeved shirt with gray stripes, white dress pants, and patterned tennis shoes.
Anyone with information regarding the suspect’s identity should call Detective Dan Bowman of the San Jose Police Department’s Assault Unit at 408-277-4161.
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[Featured image: San Jose Police Department]
