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Woman charged with chucking bottle of white wine at cops near North Station and then deliberately coughing at them
By adamg on Sat, 05/16/2020 - 9:54pm
Boston Police report arresting a woman they say objected to the presence of officers on Friend Street, where she was enjoying some Sutter Home Sauvignon Blanc with a companion around 6 p.m. on Thursday, so she began swearing at them and when that failed to get them move along, hurled one of her bottles of the wine at a cruiser, hitting one of the cops.
Police detail the arrest of Rebecca Tsakonas, 51:
When officers asked her to empty the bottle, Ms. Tsakonas, again, began directing a steady stream of obscenities at the officers. When officers asked her a second time to empty the bottle, Ms. Tsakonas, instead, chose to throw the bottle of liquor at the department cruiser striking one of the officers. When the officers informed Ms. Tsakonas that, in hitting the officer with the bottle, she could be arrested for assaulting a police officer, Ms. Tsakonas stated, “That’s fine. I have no problem with that.” Prior to transporting Ms. Tsakonas to District A-1 (Downtown) for booking, officers took possession of three clear bottles of Sutter Home Sauvignon Blanc Wine which were later logged into evidence. ...
Back at the station, the disrespectful and disparaging treatment continued. During the booking process, Ms. Tsakonas, stating she had tested positive for COVID-19, began coughing and purposely blowing her breathe in the direction of the officers. Understandably, officers were greatly concerned for their health and well-being due to the suspect’s behavior and the highly contagious nature of the coronavirus, as well as, the ongoing anxiety surrounding the pandemic.
Police say she was charged with assault and battery by means of a dangeroups weapon (wine bottle) and public drinking for the Friend Street incident and Assault and Battery by Means of a Dangerous Weapon (Wine Bottle) and threat of a dangerous substance for the booking incident. Her friend was charged simply with public drinking, police say.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
The plight of the mentally ill
Politicians closed the mental hospitals and dumped the mentally ill on the streets and subways and called it compassion.
I'd be suspicious of anyone drinking Sutter Home
Hope our friends in blue are ok.
The one wine you drink
When you are having more than one!
Jeanine Pirro is her Hero!
Intentionally Coughing should be a Felony
During this pandemic situation, I feel that anyone who knowingly, intentionally, and deliberately cough in the direction of any human being or animal; should be and could be charged with any felony crime to do bodily harm. Especially, if the person knowingly knows they probably could have or do have the coronavirus.
Any person claiming they have the coronavirus and are intentionally, knowingly and deliberately coughing on other people should be held in custody until they get tested and received the results.
If the test results come back positive they should be charged accordingly, not limited to but including up to attempted murder.
Disgusting coughing maggots!
Yeah, “you feel”...
Does anyone else find this kind of thinking terrifying?
No
I find the idea of anyone coughing on anybody terrifying.
Also, guess what: NONE OF THIS IS NEW IN THE US. There are centuries of case law regarding disease outbreaks, due to centuries of epidemic and pandemic disease, and the TB restrictions alone that have been upheld would fill a large storage device. Most recently, spreading HIV knowingly has been considered to be assault.
Sorry, dude - you lost this one 100 or more years ago. In the current environment, this is no different from spitting on a public employee.
For additional reading: https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/publications/youraba/2020/youra...
Yes, it's different
Spitting is always a deliberate act. Coughing is often involuntary, and as I said below, might be difficult to prove as deliberate. If you start trying to prosecute coughing, you're really pushing the envelope.
Your linked ABA article does not contain the word cough, so it's not really relevant to the issue.
It is relevant to the broader issue
The poster, like many, is pretending that this is the US's first rodeo with contageon.
The case law goes back as much as 200 years.
If you grew up in the west you would know all about the anti-TB laws and how many states consider spitting and coughing on people to be a felony.
Heck, just look up "intentional HIV infection" for more recent case law on intentionally trying to infect people, hon.
There are a lot of felonies that fall short of attempted murder.
And establishing that a cough was intentional, difficult as that itself may be, isn't as problematic as establishing that a person intended murder by it. It's more the attitude of "let's excise this scum from society by using the full force of the penal system" that I find concerning.
Nope
Unless I missed it, coughing doesn't play a big role in transmitting HIV. And I'm not going to look up your special Western TB laws; that's for you to prove, that there are laws against coughing. Oh, and I am not your hon.
Not terrifying, but
I am wondering how you'd prove the intent in "intentionally coughing," unless the perp announced that "I'm going to cough on you" in front of witnesses. I mean, coughing is normally an involuntary action.
Not covering your mouth
I’d say that leaning towards someone and not covering your mouth while you cough would show intent to cough on that person rather than just near them.
Not saying that’s what happened here, but I could see it.
This is a Felony!
There was a story last week about a security guard whose bosses knew he tested positive for the virus was allowed to work and was being questioned by Transit Police for beating homeless people at Back Bay Station. The result was that the whole transit police detective unit was quarantined and some tested positive. No word on the homeless victims who were beaten by this bully and whether they were ever tested. No statement from the Governor or Mayor on why the station wasn't closed for safety reasons until the station was cleaned and the homeless victims who stay in the station were tested and treated.
What is?
What is it that you're saying is a felony? The coughing in the subject of the thread, or some act in your unrelated story? Bear in mind that "felony" is an act that's defined by law as criminal, not just something you think is awful.
the correct term is 'coof'
A coof is a cough containing corona virus. So she was coofing at the cops. It is already implied that it is deliberate.
I always say to people 'don't coof on me man'. Although I am probably immune to coofs.
One of her bottles?
That's new.
I remember when Sutter Home white zinfandel was *very* popular
in the Miami Vice era. Simple, sweet, pink, cheap: a perfect mom's book club wine. Tom Wolfe lampooned it in Bonfire of the Vanities as "Crockett Sump".
I thought that was Riunite
Wine that had to be 'iced' and had a screw top
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnhOvnIi5Us
That's nice.
That's nice.
Well, if you're going to bring up Riunite...
then lest we forget...
Annie Green Springs
Boone's Farm
Yago Sangria
Cold Duck
etc.
Thunderbird, MadDog 2020, Night Train, etc. were reserved for the more "advanced" drinkers.
Did the Officer correctly pronounce
Sauvignon Blanc? If so, then perhaps we did get something out of the Quinn Bill after all.