Man who refused to wear mask arrested for alleged assault at Burnaby store

Burnaby, Canada – RCMP will be investigating “all angles” of an altercation at a local Canadian Tire store Monday involving a man who entered the store without a mask.

Police were requested at the Market Crossing Canadian Tire at about 4:26 p.m. for an alleged assault, according to Cpl. Mike Kalanj.

Responding officers were informed a man at the store had refused to put on a mask and then refused to leave.

Kalanj added, “The store said that they were going to escort him out, and then he assaulted several of the employees.” By the time officers arrived, however, the man was already in cuffs.

A cell phone video posted online captured part of the confrontation. Watch it here –

The man can be seen in a store aisle surrounded by what look to be store employees.

The man shouts, “My human rights are trumping your f***ing mask mandates.”

Toward the end of the video you can see employees put the man in.a chokehold, the man stating, “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.”

Mounties arrested the man, and Burnaby RCMP is now actively investigating the incident.

“My understanding is that video doesn’t show what the initial call was for,” Kalanj said of the video circulating on the internet.

He added, “What we were called for allegedly happened before the video. We’re going to fully investigate this, and that means all angles.”