Woman Punched In Head After Asking Man To Put On Mask: Police

RIVERSIDE, NY — A woman riding a bus who asked a man to put on a mask was punched in the head, police said.

According to Southampton Town police, on Thursday at 9:45 a.m., a 911 call came in about a woman who was assaulted at the bus stop by the traffic circle on Peconic Avenue in Riverside.

She had been riding a Suffolk County Transit bus when she asked the man to put on a protective face covering while on the bus; the two had a verbal altercation and when both got off the bus, the male punched her, causing a laceration to the head, police said.

Ernest Ryshaun Clay, 43, of Riverhead, was arrested and charged with third-degree assault, police said. He was transported to Southampton town police headquarters for processing, police said.

The woman was treated by the Flanders-Northampton Volunteer Ambulance Corps at the scene.

Last week, a clerk at a 7-Eleven on Long Island was attacked by a customer after the employee tried to enforce the store's mask requirement.