Grocery store clerk spat on in Guelph, man charged with assault

A St. Thomas, Ont., man has been charged with assault after a woman working as clerk in a Guelph grocery store was spat on earlier this month.

Police in Guelph say a person was in a store at Eramosa Road and Stevenson Street N. in Guelph on April 1. 

The person "became impatient with the wait and ultimately spit on an adult female clerk, striking her in the left arm and chest," a police release on April 3 said.

Police released two images, one of a man and one of a woman, and said they wanted to speak with the people in relation to the incident.

"The images and details of the incident were shared widely by the public and ultimately led to the responsible adult male customer being identified," police said.

Alleged assault 'truly disturbing'

A 20-year-old man from St. Thomas has been charged with assault and is due to appear in court July 17.

Loblaw Companies Limited confirmed the person who was spat upon was a staff member at its Zehrs store.

A statement sent to CBC Kitchener-Waterloo called incident "truly disturbing and we will not tolerate any sort of abuse against our colleagues."

"Our stores provide essential goods and we're being asked to remain open under very unusual circumstances. Our colleagues are also working very hard to keep everyone healthy and fed."

The statement also linked to a letter from the company's executive chairperson Galen Weston that said he was "troubled by growing reports of people ignoring social distancing requests while shopping."