Anti-masker held bank employee 'up against a glass cubicle' while 'screaming obscenities': police

A man who refused to wear a face mask in a local bank in western New York was arrested last week after Lakewood-Busti police say he held a bank employee "up against a glass cubicle" while "screaming obscenities."

Local news station WKBW in Buffalo reports that Gerald Hewes of Mayville, New York walked into a KeyBank in the village of Lakewood without wearing a face mask, despite the banks requirement that customers must wear masks in order to be served.

When employees at the bank asked him to put on a mask or leave, Hewes allegedly became violent and assaulted a bank employee, and local police tell WKBW that they saw him holding a bank employee against a cubicle when they arrived on the scene.

Police immediately rushed to pull Hewes away from the employee and diffuse the conflict -- but they say that he then started fighting with officers too.

He was arrested and has been charged with harassment, obstructing governmental administration, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.