SANTA MONICA (CNS) - A man remained hospitalized today after being stabbed in what witnesses said was a dispute with a security guard over the victim's refusal to wear a mask in a Santa Monica grocery store.
According to witnesses, the guard confronted the man around 10:30 p.m. Monday at a Vons store in the 700 block of Broadway because the man wasn't wearing a face mask, as required indoors by Los Angeles County due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Witnesses said the confrontation quickly escalated as the man became belligerent.
A struggle ensued, during which the guard pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed the man, according to police and witnesses.
``When somebody came up to break it up, pull them apart, but then that guy was bleeding profusely, where he'd (the guard) gotten him,'' witness Andre Berryman told CBS2. ``So that was pretty much what happened. It was all behind him not wearing a mask.''
The man was taken to a hospital in unknown condition. CBS2 reported that the man was recovering, but was being generally uncooperative with investigators trying to interview him at the hospital.