Missouri Man Allegedly Intentionally Coughed On Customers

A 33-year-old eastern Missouri man is charged with making a terrorist threat after police say he intentionally coughed on customers at a store and wrote COVID on a cooler.

Crawford County authorities say John Swaller, of Cuba, was arrested and charged Tuesday after a clerk at a Dollar Tree store in Cuba told police he was coughing toward customers and had breathed on a cooler before writing COVID on the inside. Cuba police chief Doug Shelton says it is unknown if Swaller has the coronavirus.

The store was closed and sanitized after the incident. Online court records do not name an attorney for Swaller.