An irate woman reportedly maced a couple in a California dog park because they weren't wearing face masks while they enjoyed a picnic ...
An irate woman reportedly maced a couple in a California dog park because they weren't wearing face masks while they enjoyed a picnic lunch together.
The disturbing incident happened Thursday afternoon when Ash O'Brien, her husband Jarrett Kelley and their three-month-old puppy visited Rhodes Dog Park in San Diego.
Footage taken by a concerned witness begins halfway through the confrontation and shows the woman, wearing a black face mask, deploying pepper spray at Kelley.
O'Brien wails in the background as Kelley tries to wrestle the pepper spray canister out of the woman's hands
Ash O'Brien and her husband Jarrett Kelley (pictured) were confronted by a woman who deployed peppery spray in San Diego on Thursday
The woman reportedly pepper-sprayed Kelley because the couple were not wearing face masks while eating lunch
The woman soon stops and is confronted by witnesses, while Kelley is temporarily blinded by the pepper spray.
'What is your problem? You just maced him!' one female witness says. A man beside her chimes in 'That's just wrong!'
'You just maced them and their food because you disagree,' the female witness adds.
The unidentified woman and her dog then quickly leave the park without another word.
According to O'Brien, the couple had just sat down for lunch and were not wearing masks at the time because they were eating food
She claims the woman bothered them first by calling them 'idiots' and flipping O'Brien off.
'We were not wearing masks because we were eating. You can’t wear a mask and eat at the same time,' wrote O'Brien in a Facebook post.
'Then she started saying more stuff and I told her to leave the park and stop harassing us.'
O'Brien said the woman then approached the table the couple was eating at and without warning aimed the pepper spray.
O'Brien and Kelley (left to right) have filed a police report with local law enforcement hoping the woman is held accountable for her actions
'She then came right up to our table wear 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,' wrote O'Brien.
The couple drove to the hospital for Kelley to receive medical treatment afterwards.
Now, they want the woman to face jail time and have filed a misdemeanor battery report with the local police department.
'I want her to go to jail, she assaulted my husband, and I’m angry about it,' O'Brien told ABC 10
She added that Rhodes Dog Park does not have a food policy and if there had been one, they wouldn't have brought food.
O'Brien: 'People don’t need to be getting assaulted for not wearing a mask in a public outdoor area'
'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.'
O'Brien said she's happy that none of the dogs were harmed during the incident.
'People don’t need to be getting assaulted for not wearing a mask in a public outdoor area,' said O'Brien.
The state of California implemented a face covering mandate as cases and deaths continue to climb.
While residents are required to wear face coverings throughout daily life, the California Department of Public Health specified that individuals can remove masks when dining at establishments that offer food.
California surpassed New York for the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, bringing the state's number to 440,560 infections and 8,340 deaths,
As of Saturday evening, there are more than 10,000 new positive cases and 151 new deaths.
There is a 8 per cent seven-day positivity rate and a 7.5 per cent 14-day positivity rate.
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