Kelly Dewayne McKin.Photo: Orange County Sheriff’s Office
A Florida man was arrested on a charge of battery on a uniformed security officer afterallegedly spittingon a Walt Disney World guard who asked him to put on a mask to comply with the resort’sCOVID-19safety protocol.
The incident around 10 p.m. Feb. 5 outdoors at Disney’s Contemporary Resort near Orlando unfolded as the man, who said he was a resort guest, told the guard “to leave him alone,” according to an arrest affidavit.
After that, the alleged assailant – who was anonymous to the guard but wore a distinctive long gray beard and mustache – walked inside the resort and disappeared into an elevator, leaving the guard who was without her radio to leave the scene and request backup. The man was not found that day.
The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.Charles Sykes/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
The next day, an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy who answered a call to issue a trespass warning to a white male on the resort property recognized the man matched the description of the previous night’s alleged offender.
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McKin allegedly told the deputy who investigated the incident that “he did get into a verbal discussion with [the guard] regarding him not wearing his mask,” but he said he agreed to wear his mask once inside and that “that was the end of the interaction.”
According to the arrest affidavit, McKin “was adamant that he did not spit on her.”
A representative for Disney Worldpreviously told PEOPLEthat isolated incidents of guests objecting as resort employees try to enforce COVID safety measures don’t reflect the majority of rule-abiding park-goers.
“Guests have overwhelmingly been supportive of our protocols,” the representative said. “Millions of guests visit our theme parks each year and in rare instances when things of this nature occur, we hold them accountable.”
Although Florida, unlike other states, never enacted a statewide mask mandate, all guests at Walt Disney World are required to comply with safety measures that include wearing an approved face mask at the resort’s four theme parks — Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom — as well as its hotels and Disney Springs.
source: people.com
