A woman attending a middle school sports game on Wednesday was tased and arrested in the bleachers after refusing to wear a mask.
“This is over a mask,” the person recording said.
The woman said she was not doing anything wrong.
The officer, later identified as Chris Smith, tased the woman, and arrested her.
“Officer Smith was walking in the stadium and observed a female sitting in the stands without a mask, he approached the female and advised her she needed to put her mask on as required by the school policy. The female advised that she had asthma and was not going to put it on,” police said.
“Officer Smith advised the female several times that she needed to put her mask on, and that if she did not, she would be asked to leave and would have wait outside the stadium. The female continually refused his request and Officer Smith advised her that if she refused to leave, she would be cited for trespassing and escorted off the property.”
The woman said she wouldn’t go, prompting Smith to attempt to place her under arrest for criminal trespassing.
After the female began resisting arrest, Smith tased her, police confirmed.
The woman was later identified as Alecia Kitts.
She was charged with criminal trespassing.
“It is important to note, the female was not arrested for failing to wear a mask, she was asked to leave the premises for continually violating school policy. Once she refused to leave the premises, she was advised she was under arrest for criminal trespassing, she resisted the arrest, which led to the use of force. This is an unfortunate incident for everyone involved. The incident remains under investigation,” police said.
According to local news outlets, buildings in the Logan-Hocking School District, where the incident took place, were placed on lockout on Thursday after the district received threats over what happened.
Superintendent Monte Bainter said none of the threats were found to be credible but district officials were being cautious.
Municipalities and states have put into place harsh restrictions this year to try to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also on Wednesday, five people were cited for allegedly violating mask orders in Moscow, Idaho.
A group of over 150 gathered for a “psalm sing,” including Gabriel Rench, a candidate for the Latah County commission, the Moscow-Pullman Daily News reported.
Moscow Police Chief James Fry said two of the five were arrested on suspicion of resisting or obstructing an officer.
The five were cited because they were not wearing masks or social distancing, police said.
