California man accused of attacking teacher in mask dispute charged with misdemeanors
A Northern California man accused of attacking a teacher during a dispute over COVID-19 mask protocols on the first day of school earlier this month has been charged with three misdemeanors, prosecutors announced Monday.
The Amador County District Attorney’s Office identified the suspect in the incident as 49-year-old Jason Wages, a Sutter Creek resident.
The Sutter Creek Police Department in an earlier statement said officers responded to a “disturbance between a parent and a staff member concerning COVID-19 procedures and facial maskings” at Sutter Creek Elementary School. Police said they were investigating and would forward findings to the district attorney and did not name the involved subject at the time.
Dr. Torie Gibson, superintendent of Amador County Unified School District, in a letter to parents said the incident started as a verbal argument between a parent and the principal of Sutter Creek Elementary, but then escalated into an alleged physical assault by the parent on a teacher who tried to intervene.
Gibson in an email to The Sacramento Bee confirmed the incident centered around mask protocols and said the teacher involved had to be treated at a local emergency room. The teacher was released from the hospital later that night, Gibson wrote.
Wages is being charged with misdemeanor counts of “battery on a school employee, disruptive presence at a school and disturbing the peace by offensive language,” the Amador County District Attorney’s Office wrote in a Monday news release.
“The District Attorney’s Office understands that while these are turbulent times and many decisions related to the pandemic are controversial, that does not excuse people using violence to demonstrate their frustration.”
Masks are required in K-12 schools across California under a state health order.
This story was originally published August 23, 2021 at 12:16 PM with the headline "California man accused of attacking teacher in mask dispute charged with misdemeanors."
