A Louisiana man was behind bars Wednesday after he was accused of backing into an off-duty officer who asked him to wear a face covering.
West Monroe police arrested Ricky Taylor, 64, outside a Walmart Supercenter on Tuesday after police say he became “unruly” and refused to adhere to the store’s face mask policy, according to an arrest report posted online.
Police said Taylor began cursing the officer when he was offered a mask and shouted, “You can’t make me wear a (expletive) mask! I’m not wearing a (expletive) mask.” The dispute escalated from there.
An officer informed Taylor he was being put on a trespass notice, as requested by the business, and was asked to leave, according to police. The officer requested his driver’s license as he left, but Taylor refused, saying to him, “I could give it to you — but I’m not.”
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Taylor continued to refuse to identify himself to the officer and got in his car. That’s when authorities say he “backed his vehicle up and struck (the officer) two different times” as the cop tried to take down his license plate number, the arrest report says.
The officer wasn’t knocked down but did lose his footing, police said.
After a brief scuffle, Taylor was taken into custody a short time later. He now faces charges of resisting an officer, disorderly conduct and aggravated assault with a motor vehicle upon a peace officer, online jail records show.
He’s being held at the Ouachita Correctional Center on $750 bond.
On Wednesday, Walmart announced that it would start requiring customers to wear face coverings inside its stores nationwide, USA TODAY reported.
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