A customer was reportedly caught on camera attempting to run over the owner of a New England grocery store following a dispute over a mask mandate.
Mark Call owns Shop'N Save in Cornish, Maine with his brother and told WMTW they have been strictly enforcing the state's mask mandate, which Governor Janet Mills strengthened on Friday (December 11,) advising businesses to turn away customers who refuse to wear masks indoors.
Last week, Call said he approached one maskless customer and offered a mask, but the man became angry and the situation escalated, causing Call to ask the man to leave the store. The man was then caught on surveillance video taking his cart and throwing it towards Call.
Call and his brother would then follow the man outside to his car in an effort to get his license plate for law enforcement. Surveillance footage then showed the man then backing out of his parking space and hitting Call with his vehicle.
“I stepped over as he backed out. I stepped into the parking space that he backed out of and I saw him put it in neutral and looked him right in the face and I couldn’t’ believe it," Call said. "He put it in drive and just drove straight at me."
Call said he was uninjured and happy to be alive, but shaken by the incident. He added that he and his brother fully support the governor's mask mandate and the new order issued on Friday.
“We are 100% behind the mandate for the safety of people that she has put in place, but she doesn’t understand what enforcing it entails, and some of the dangers people are being put in,” Call said.
Call said his store doesn't have a budget to hire security, or another employee available on staff to watch the door. He does, however, hope to see some sort of task force or local law enforcement working as an enforcer, but hopes people can be more kind to each other until a change is made.
Photo: Getty Images