Coronavirus: Louisiana man arrested after backing into officer twice following mask confrontation

A Louisiana man is facing multiple charges after being asked to leave Walmart for refusing to wear a mask and hitting a police officer with his vehicle as he attempted to flee the parking lot.

According to the arrest report, West Monroe police took Ricky Taylor, 64, into custody Tuesday outside a Walmart Supercenter after officers say he refused to comply with the store’s face mask policy and became “unruly.”

Taylor has been charged with resisting an officer, disorderly conduct and aggravated assault with a motor vehicle upon a peace officer, KTVE reported.

The incident began when Taylor was offered a mask to wear and shouted, “You can’t make me wear a (expletive) mask! I’m not wearing a (expletive) mask,” the Sun Herald reported.

An officer then asked Taylor to exit the premises because the store management considered him a trespasser and asked for his driver’s license, but Taylor refused to provide a license or identify himself, according to the arrest report.

That’s when authorities say Taylor got into his car, “backed his vehicle up and struck (the officer) two different times” while the officer attempted to capture Taylor’s license plate number, the report stated.

The officer did lose his footing but was not knocked to the ground, the Sun Herald reported.

A second officer arrived, and following a brief scuffle, arrested Taylor, who claimed he did not see the first officer behind his vehicle, KTVE reported.

Cox Media Group