TORONTO -- Police have charged a man following a heated incident at a drive-through COVID-19 assessment centre in Hamitlon, Ont. that resulted in the assault of a staff member.
Police said it happened on Wednesday just after 2:30 p.m. at the Dave Andreychuk Arena, which is currently being used as a drive-through assessment for COVID-19, in the city’s Greeningdon neighbourhood.
When officers arrived on scene, witnesses told police that the man was not satisfied with the testing procedure and became “irate” with a staff member and shouted expletives. Police said that the COVID-19 assessment was then stopped and the man was asked by the staff member to attend another facility for screening.
The suspect then continued to verbally accost the staff member and threw his cup at her, police said. The cup hit the staff member and she was covered in its contents. Police say the staff member was not physically injured in the incident.
The suspect was a passenger in a vehicle, which immediately fled the scene following the incident.
Police say they were able track down the man at a residence and officers spoke with him shortly before 4:30 p.m. Officers say they arrested the man without incident and he was later released.
The unnamed suspect is described as a 44-year-old resident of Hamilton, Ont. and has been charged with assault with a weapon.
He is scheduled to appear in a Hamilton, Ont. court on November 10.
No further suspect details have been released by police at this time.
Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.
