Maskless shopper pulls knife on Mall of America security officers
Bloomington MN March 9 2021 A 29-year-old man who didn’t want to wear a mask while visiting Mall of America was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault.
Mall security officers initially confronted the man during the morning of Feb. 18 as he was walking around inside the mall.
The suspect, who has no permanent address, was asked to put on a mask, but he refused, and was verbally defiant in doing so. He continued walking through the mall as security officers followed him, according to Bloomington Police Cmdr. Ben Calhoun.
The suspect eventually pulled a fixed-blade razor knife from his pocket, turned around and began walking toward the security officers following him.
He was told to stop approaching them and did so. He put the knife back in his pocket and put his hands up, but then started running toward a mall entrance, fleeing into a parking ramp, Calhoun said.
Security officers searching outside the mall found the man hiding behind a wooden crate in the mall’s north loading dock area, where he was detained until Bloomington Police officers arrived and arrested him, Calhoun added.
A second-degree assault charge was submitted to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, he noted.
