Florida man arrested and charged after ‘intentionally coughing’ on hardware store employee

Sheriff’s Deputies from Florida’s Volusia County arrested a DeBary, Florida, man on April 7 and charged the individual with aggravated assault after he intentionally coughed on a retail store employee.  The clueless cougher claimed that today’s social distancing is “getting out of hand.”

Christopher Canfora, 49, was arrested shortly before 3 p.m. on Tuesday at his home in DeBary.

Deputies had responded around noon yesterday to Harbor Freight Tools at 2401 Enterprise Road in Orange City, where an employee reported that morning, that Canfora approached her at a cash register and commented on the social distancing measures the store was taking, including tape markers on the floor to space customers six feet apart.

The employee said Canfora remarked, “This is all getting out of hand,” and intentionally coughed on her and the register.

The woman said Canfora then explained that he does the same to people wearing masks when he sees them, and he was planning on going next to a nearby Winn-Dixie supermarket and doing it some more.

Authorities were able to identify Canfora through a customer rewards system in Harbor Freight Tools’ database, according to WFTV.

When deputies arrived at Canfora’s home, he denied coughing on anyone and said he did not have any symptoms associated with COVID-19. He said he didn’t expect anyone to understand his sense of humor and he couldn’t remember exactly what he said at Harbor Freight.

Canfora was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail where on the evening of April 7, he was still  being held on $5,000 bond. 

Unfortunately, and inexplicably, intentionally coughing at people and on supermarket products is not as rare as you might think in today’s pandemic world.   For another example, see the video below.

(Source: Volusia Sheriff’s Office)

Posted by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter