Washington Man Arrested For Assaulting 72-Year-Old Disabled Veteran Over Face Mask Dispute

A Washington state resident was arrested Saturday, Aug. 8, and charged with assault after allegedly breaking the jaw of a 72-year-old disabled veteran during a dispute over face masks.

The 35-year-old was arrested at his residence in Spokane, Washington, and charged with second-degree assault after police received an anonymous tip Friday evening, reported Q13 Fox Seattle.

Cody Hansen was accused of attacking the 72-year-old veteran in the lobby of the Red Lion Inn and Suited in Kent, Washington, on July 18. The surveillance video revealed a man, later identified as Hansen, approached a partially disabled person sitting with his cane in the lobby.

Hansen allegedly punched the unnamed victim several times, which left him unconscious. According to the police, the veteran suffered a broken jaw in the attack, reported Q13 Fox.

The victim informed the officers he made a comment to Hansen’s girlfriend who was not wearing a mask or any kind of protective facial covering in the hotel lobby amid the coronavirus pandemic. Hansen had shown up at the lobby later to attack him.

Hansen has an outstanding probation warrant out of Alaska for drug charges and is currently being held at the Spokane County Jail. His bail is set at $10,000 for the assault arrest.

His criminal history dating back to 2006 reveals nine arrests in Alaska, with the most recent arrest being two years ago.

There have been a series of masks-related disputes across the country.

On July 29, a New Jersey Staples store customer was attacked and left with a broken leg. The police arrested a 25-year-old woman involved in the attack. The attack happened after the 54-year-old victim, who had undergone a liver transplant surgery four months ago, told the accused to properly wear the mask she had pulled down below her mouth.

A driver in San Franciso was physically assaulted late last month when he attempted to remove passengers from the bus who refused to wear face maks. The driver was struck by a wooden bat multiple times, was spat at and called racist slurs. However, no arrests were made.

In May, a security guard at a Family Dollar Store in Flint, Michigan, was shot dead during a mask dispute.