N.J. man charged with terroristic threats after coughing on grocery store worker and saying he had coronavirus

A person grocery shops.
(Image credit: Romeo Gacad/AFP via Getty Images)

A New Jersey man who coughed on a grocery store employee before telling her he had coronavirus has been charged with terroristic threats, harassment, and obstruction, authorities said Tuesday.

The state's attorney general's office said the man entered a Wegmans in Manalapan on Sunday night, and got into an altercation with the store employee after she told him he was too close to her and a display of prepared food, NJ.com reports. The man — later identified by authorities as 50-year-old George Falcone of Freehold — then allegedly "stepped forward to within three feet of her, leaned toward her, and purposely coughed," before laughing and saying he had coronavirus.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.