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SALT LAKE CITY — A woman upset that she was being arrested in a domestic violence case coughed on two deputies while claiming she had COVID-19, police say.
The case is at least the third this month of an arrested person threatening to use coronavirus against either police or another person in Utah.
Millard County sheriff’s deputies were called to a report of a family fight about 5:20 a.m. Tuesday.
After collecting statements from all sides involved, deputies decided to arrest a 20-year-old woman for allegedly assaulting two other family members. But as they attempted to take her into custody, she told police she thought she had COVID-19, according to a police booking affidavit, “(She) started screaming and yelling that she had the ‘COVID’ and that she could not be arrested for assault.”
The woman resisted as deputies attempted to place her in handcuffs and was “again screaming and yelling that she could not be arrested” as they tried to escort her to a patrol car, the affidavit states.
As deputies were attempting to place a seat belt on the woman inside the patrol car, she “began coughing and saying, ‘I hope I have the COVID’ and then appeared to intentionally cough again directly toward (the arresting officer),” police wrote in the affidavit.
After arriving at the Millard County Jail, the woman again “screamed that she demanded to be tested for ‘the COVID.’”
“(The woman) was evaluated by the Millard County Jail nurse who determined that (she) did not have a fever at the time of evaluation,” the affidavit states.
The woman was booked for investigation of two counts of assault on a police officer, two counts of assault and interfering with an arrest.
A COVID-19 test was also arranged for the woman at the Fillmore Medical Clinic and the two deputies who made the arrest self-quarantined, according to police.
In a separate case Tuesday, a man was arrested in Provo for allegedly threatening to infect workers at a McDonald’s restaurant with COVID-19.
On April 3, West Jordan police encountered a similar incident when a man being arrested was accused of purposely coughing in an officer's face while claiming he was infected with the new coronavirus.
Also Tuesday, Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith announced that three detectives and one deputy were exposed to people who tested positive for COVID-19 in two separate arrests.
“Recently three Utah County Sheriff’s Office detectives were exposed to a man during his arrest who later tested positive for COVID-19. And on April 13 one of our deputies, during a traffic stop, was also exposed to a man who was positive for COVID-19. All four of these detectives and deputies are self-isolating and have or will undergo testing for COVID-19 exposure. These deputies will remain in isolation for the recommended time period. They will not return to work until tests show they have not contracted COVID-19,” Smith said in a prepared statement,
Smith added that deputies are still committed to doing their jobs, despite the ongoing threat of being exposed. But being exposed to infectious diseases is nothing new for law enforcement.
“Before COVID-19 became an international concern there were other risks of exposure deputies were routinely faced with. Hepatitis, influenza, blood, and other bodily fluids are part of daily concerns faced by law enforcement officers. Each threat carries its own set of concerns, so being aware of, preventing, and preparing for exposure is always on the minds of our deputies in all areas,” the sheriff's office stated.
