Coronavirus News: Woman assaulted in New Jersey Staples in dispute over face mask speaks out from hospital bed

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Monday, August 10, 2020
Woman assaulted in dispute over face mask speaks out from hospital bed
Speaking from her hospital bed, the woman shoved to the ground inside a Staples in New Jersey after she asked another customer to pull up her face mask says she plans on pressing c

NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- Speaking from her hospital bed, the woman shoved to the ground inside a Staples in New Jersey after she asked another customer to pull up her face mask says she plans on pressing charges.

Margot Kagan says she was using one of the fax machines inside the store in Hackensack Wednesday afternoon when she noticed the woman using the machine next to her was not wearing a face mask.

She says when she asked the other woman to wear her mask -- she cursed at her.

"When she started cursing me out I said, 'well you're endangering everyone.' So that's when she took it upon herself to leave her little cube area and come in mine, but she's, face-to-face with me, without the mask on properly," Kagan said.

A 54-year-old woman who recently had a liver transplant was assaulted inside a New Jersey Staples store after asking the assailant to wear a mask, and the harrowing incident was ca

Kagan recently had a liver transplant and uses a cane as she recovers.

"I held up my cane so she couldn't go any more forward. I didn't touch her with it. At some point, she grabbed the cane and threw me and it on the floor," Kagan said.

Security cameras captured the assault:

A woman attacked a 54-year-old in a Hackensack Staples after being told to put a mask on, police say

Kagan says she broke her knee, which required a steel plate to be put in and has been told by doctors that she won't be able to put weight on her leg for seven to 10 weeks.

Police are still searching for the other woman.

Kagan says she hopes they find her.

"I hope karma gets her. You know I hope the police find her because I'm pressing charges. I hope that the police are- that she's terrified by the notion of the police coming to her job and arresting her. I'm sorry, I have no sympathy for her whatsoever," Kagan said.

Hackensack police are asking anyone with information or who may be able to identify the attacker to contact CrimeStoppers at 844-466-6789.

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