#Police searching for man who gave strangers ‘COVID hugs’ in Walmart

This suspect allegedly embraced strangers before telling them they were infected with COVID-19.
Springfield Police Department

Police in Springfield, Massachusetts, are searching for a man who gave unsolicited “COVID hugs” to strangers in a local Walmart.

The man, pictured on surveillance footage wearing a black T-shirt and camouflage shorts, has embraced multiple customers before informing them they were just infected with the coronavirus, according to the Springfield Police Department.

During one of the hostile hugs reported last Saturday evening, he took an item out of a cancer survivor’s hand to hold him close, the department wrote in a Facebook post asking for help identifying the man.

“He told the victim, ‘Just giving you a COVID hug. You now have COVID,’ the department said.

The man allegedly laughed and walked away.

The suspect is being sought for charges of assault and battery and making terroristic threats, according to Masslive.com.