Woman intentionally coughed on child's face after argument with mother, police say

SAN JOSE, Calif. (WSET) — Police in California are searching for a woman they said coughed on a child after an argument with the child's mother at a business in San Jose.

The San Jose Police Department said the woman was standing in line at the Yogurtland on Cottle Road on Friday, June 12 in front of the child in a stroller and the child's mother.

They said their preliminary investigation shows the suspect was upset the child's mother was not maintaining proper social distancing, so she removed her mask, got close to the baby's face, and coughed two or three times. Police said the woman left the business and has not been identified or arrested.

The police department provided surveillance footage showing the woman coughing on the child.

Mireya Mora, the child's mother, told KGO in San Francisco she believes it was race related.

"I believe this woman may be racist because the family in front of her is white. Me and my grandma are Hispanic and she started telling me about my distance and harassing me and my son once I started speaking Spanish to my grandma," Mora said in the interview.

Police described her as a white woman in her 60s, medium build, wearing a gray bandanna, and glasses.

"Coughing on someone's face. She did it on purpose it's not like she did it on accident, oh cough, cough - no she purposely coughed on my son's face It happened so quick I was in shock. She got close, she took off her mask, and she coughed three times super hard on my son's face," Mora added.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Dan Bowman of the San Jose Police Department's Assaults Unit at 408-277-4161.