Cops: Woman Hit Worker Over Store Mask Rule
Minnesotan, 35, charged with assault
JUNE 10--After being told she could not enter a department store without wearing a face mask, a Minnesota woman slapped a worker in the face before ripping his mask off and tossing it in the garbage, police allege.
According to a criminal complaint, Heidi Ruth Mueller, 35, last month sought to enter a Menards home improvement store near 
her home in North Mankato, a city 80 miles from Minneapolis.
When Mueller attempted to walk into the business, an employee instructed her she “needs a mask to shop at the store per store policy.” Mueller then “quarreled briefly” with the worker before grabbing the man’s face and pulling his mask down.
After a second worker intervened and told her to leave, Mueller slapped the first employee “in the face and ripped his mask off before throwing the mask in the garbage,” cops say. She then “fled to the parking lot and left.”
“The incident was captured by a closed-circuit surveillance video,” the complaint states.
One of the Menards workers told cops that they received 40 tips fingering Mueller as the unmasked woman. A police examination of surveillance footage and Mueller’s driver's license photo resulted in her identification as the alleged assailant.
Mueller has been charged with three misdemeanors: disorderly conduct and two counts of assault. (3 pages)
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