Woman lowers mask and coughs on baby in California yogurt shop line, video shows

UPDATE: Nancy Nordland was arrested and charged with assault and will be arraigned on April 27.

Security camera video at a Yogurtland shop in San Jose, California, shows a woman pointing angrily at a baby in a stroller in line behind her.

Then the woman pulls down her face mask and repeatedly coughs in the baby’s face before walking away, the video shows.

“It happened so quick I was in shock,” said Mireya Mora, the baby’s mother, KGO reported. “She got close, she took off her mask, and she coughed three times super hard on my son’s face.”

The superintendent of the Oak Grove School District in San Jose said in a statement that a school employee has been identified as a suspect in the case and is not working with children.

San Jose police were seeking the woman on suspicion of assault in the incident, which took place at 5:25 p.m. June 12 at the Yogurtland at 5638 Cottle Road, a release says.

“She coughed on him super-hard. It wasn’t an accident,” said Mora, reported The Washington Post. “A person with a heart that cares would not do that to a baby.”

The woman had reportedly accused Mora and her baby of not following social distancing rules while in line, police say.

But Mora, who is Hispanic, says she suspects racism because the woman only became upset when she began speaking Spanish to her grandmother, KGO reported.

Mora said the woman had initially complained to a store employee, who confirmed that her family had been following social-distancing rules, The Washington Post reported.

Police asked that anyone with information on the incident contact detective Dan Bowman at 408-277-4161. Anonymous tips can be left on the Crime Stoppers Tip Line, 408-947-7867.

This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Woman lowers mask and coughs on baby in California yogurt shop line, video shows."