By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com - Updated by Jon King / jking@whmi.com


An arrest has been made in the case of an Argentine Twp. man who wiped his nose on a store clerk after being asked to wear a face mask.


The Holly Police Department had sought the public’s help in identifying the man who was caught on surveillance video at the Dollar Tree store on N. Saginaw Street this past Saturday at about 1:30 pm. The clerk advised the man that all in-store customers must wear a mask to enter the store as stated on the signs posted on the entry doors. Surveillance video from the store shows the man walking over to the clerk and wiping his nose and face on her shirt. He then reportedly told her "Here, I will use this as a mask.” The man continued to be loud and disruptive inside the store before leaving and driving away in a van.

The man has since been identified as Rex Howard Gomoll of Linden. He’ll be arraigned today on misdemeanor charges of assault and battery. Holly Police thanked everyone who shared a Facebook post and surveillance video, saying a viewer tip assisted investigators in determining Gomoll’s identity.

The incident was the second in as many days involving a store patron in Michigan not wearing a required face mask. On Friday, a security guard was shot and killed at a Family Dollar in Flint after he told a customer she had to wear a face covering.