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Transit police officers in self-isolation after being coughed at during arrest

Self-isolation comes amid COVID-19 worries
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FILE – Transit Police officers are in self-isolation after being coughed and spit at during an arrest on Sunday, March 22, 2020. (Metro Vancouver Transit Police handout)

Two Transit Police officers are in self-isolation after being coughed on while responding to a call in New Westminster.

In a Twitter post Sunday, police Chief Dave Jones said the officers were responding to a man allegedly threatening a woman ear the New Westminster SkyTrain Station with a knife.

Transit police were called and when they arrested the man, Jones said they began “intentionally coughing and spitting at officers.”

Sgt. Clint Hampton told Black Press Media the COVID-19 crisis has made frontline workers wary in situations that are already difficult. Charges, including assault, are being recommended.

The officers are now is self-isolation as a precaution, due to the COVID-19 situation in B.C. As of Sunday, at least 424 people in the provinces tested positive for the coronavirus and 10 had died.

READ MORE: All B.C. distillers now authorized to make hand sanitizer as COVID-19 leads to shortages


@katslepian

katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

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