Cops still looking for ex-teacher charged with coughing in baby’s face, CA officials say
UPDATE: Nancy Nordland was charged with assault and will be arraigned on April 27.
Police said they’re still looking for a former San Jose school worker accused of coughing in a baby’s face at a Yogurtland, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office.
An arrest warrant for Nancy Nordland was issued on July 14 that says she “did ... unlawfully attempt to commit a violent injury on the person of Mora Doe (1 year-old),” according to court records.
“The complaint has been filed, and the court has issued a warrant for defendant Nordland’s arrest,” Deputy District Attorney Aidan Welsh said. “Police have not yet been able to locate defendant Nordland.”
Security camera footage at a Yogurtland in San Jose shows a woman pulling down her face mask and coughing into a baby’s face. The baby, who was in a stroller, and his mother were in line behind the suspect.
An investigation found that the suspect was “upset the female was not maintaining proper social distancing, so the suspect removed her face mask, got close to the baby’s face, and coughed 2-3 times,” according to a San Jose Police Department news release.
“It happened so quick I was in shock,” said Mireya Mora, the baby’s mother, KGO reported. “She got close, she took off her mask, and she coughed three times super hard on my son’s face.”
Mora told KGO she believes the incident was motivated by racism.
“I believe this woman may be racist because the family in front of her is white. Me and my grandma are Hispanic and she started telling me about my distance and harassing me and my son once I started speaking Spanish to my grandma,” Mora said.
Nordland lost her job at the Oak Grove School District, McClatchy News previously reported.
“We want to inform our community that the District employee who was alleged to have engaged in this conduct is no longer an employee of our District,” the district said in a statement. “The Oak Grove School District’s highest priority is the safety of our students and the well-being of all of the children in the community we serve.”
Todd Nordland, Nancy’s husband, said in The Mercury News: “My wife has been accused on the internet of things she did not do. She has received death threats as a consequence. Shame on you for reporting and investigating and propagating this fake news.”
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Cops still looking for ex-teacher charged with coughing in baby’s face, CA officials say."