Woman arrested at Lakeside Shopping Center after refusing to leave for not wearing mask

METAIRIE, La. (WVUE) - A Jefferson Parish woman was arrested after she was asked to leave a store at Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie because she was not wearing a mask but decided to stay.

According to the sheriff’s office, the woman was inside the mall on July 28 when she refused to put on a mask because of coronavirus.

Gretchen Conners, 50, refused to wear the mask, then would not leave the business after it asked her to leave the premises.

The woman had to be put in a wheelchair and rolled out of the mall, JPSO Capt. Jason Rivarde said.

Louisiana has a statewide mandate requiring masking in public for almost everyone who is eight or older.

Conners was asked to leave by deputies, but she was arrested when she refused to go.

She was not arrested for refusing to wear a mask but taken into custody on a misdemeanor charge of remaining in a place after being forbidden, resisting arrest and refusing to provide her identification.

She was taken to Gretna jail and later released on a $1,500 bond.