Walmart calls cops after family without masks refuses to leave store, CA cops say

A Walmart in Turlock, California called the police after a family not wearing masks refused to leave the store, Turlock Police Chief Nino Amirfar said.

Videos of the incident was posted on Saturday on Facebook by Bobbie Carne, who wrote in the video description that two children weren’t wearing masks. The videos shows the family being escorted out of the store and a police officer explaining the situation.

Turlock Police Chief Nino Amirfar addressed the situation during a Facebook live video on Sunday. Amirfar said that the Turlock Police Department would not be citing people for not wearing masks.

“We responded to the business because the business managers requested that we respond for trespassing, as the individuals refused to leave,” Amirfar said. “Our response was only for trespassing, and my officers did an outstanding job in regards to gaining compliance and asking the individual to leave. He even waited and explained to another customer that was videoing.”

Amirfar recommended people practice social distancing, hand washing, and other safety measures, but that the police weren’t responding to businesses “solely because someone isn’t wearing a mask.”

“I was caught off guard by the fact that the manager wanted this guy arrested,” Carne told McClatchy News. “Do I think they probably had a verbal altercation before I took the video? Yes, because that’s what it feels like. One of the officers was walking past me and when I said ‘Oh my god,’ that’s when the officer stopped, turned around, and came back and was explaining what was going on.”

Walmart responded to the incident in a statement to FOX40: “Maintaining customer and associate safety remains our top priority. We encourage customers to be especially mindful of one another during this unprecedented time and adhere to recommendations and guidance that we all use face coverings in public places.”

California Department of Public Health issued a guidance on June 18 recommending people wear face coverings indoors. There are exceptions for children under the age of two.

The World Health Organization, which previously didn’t tell people to wear face masks in public, said earlier in June that masks should be worn “in light of evolving evidence,” according to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO.

The CDC started recommending people wear face masks in public in early April.

There have been more than 2 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. as of June 22, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 119,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S.