PERKINS TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A 20-year-old man was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon after a Perkins Township officer saw him brandish a set of brass knuckles after the officer asked the man to leave the store because he was not wearing a face mask.
Police responded to the Walmart in Sandusky at about 5 p.m. on Saturday after dispatch was advised of a customer refusing to put his mask on, according to the Perkins Township police report. An officer spoke to an employee, who said a customer was refusing to put a mask on, and another employee, who said they asked the man to leave, but he ignored them.
The officer then made contact with the mask-less man, “and he did not look happy I was there,” the report states. The officer told the man he was not there because he wasn’t wearing a mask, but because he refused to leave.
The man said he wasn’t told to leave, and when the officer asked him what was going on, he said, “you tell me what's going with these people trying to make my decisions."
The officer tried to explain that the man was on private property, but the man tried to argue the fact that Walmart was private property, the report states. The store employees told the officer that they just wanted the man to leave, and that if he returned, he needed to wear a mask, or he would be considered trespassing.
The officer then asked the man to leave the store, and as the man began to walk away, the officer saw him stick his left hand into his pocket and pull out a set of brass knuckles, the report states.
The officer stopped the man, removed his brass knuckles, placed his hands behind his back and secured him in handcuffs, according to police. The officer searched the man and removed a razor blade knife from his pocket, which the man informed the officer about.
The report says that as the officer escorted the man out of the store, he said, “Do you really think I’m f***ing scared of you”?
The man was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, and a judge advised bond for him.
Walmart representatives said they did not wish to press charges against the man for trespassing.
The man later refused to sign the trespass notice and was banned from all Walmart and Sam’s Club stores, the report states.
