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One man in Canada rang in the new year with fines and an arrest after refusing to wear a mask while riding a taxi.
Victoria police received a 911 call after 1 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 1 from a driver who had a drunken passenger acting “belligerently” when asked to comply with COVID-19 measures required by the law. Besides not wanting to wear a mask, he also touched the driver’s face, as per a police report.
Instead of taking him to his destination, the taxi driver dropped him off at a police station. Officers removed the man from the vehicle and took him into custody after he refused to leave the cab.
The man racked up fines that totaled to CA$690 (P26,000) for three counts: failing to wear a facial covering, abusive or belligerent behavior, and failing to comply with the direction of an officer. He was locked in jail until he became sober and received a ticket for being intoxicated in a public place.
Police there attended to over a dozen reports of gatherings from Thursday night to Friday morning (Dec. 31, 2020 and Jan. 1). They broke up gatherings when reports were founded and reminded attendees of COVID-19 measures.
Canada saw a surge in coronavirus cases during the holidays. In just two weeks, it saw 500,000 cases go up to 600,000. JB
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