Texas man arrested for stabbing over restaurant mask policy

A Texas man who in March stabbed a Jack in the Box manager three times over the fast food restaurant’s mask policy has finally been arrested this week.

James Schulz Jr. was taken into custody Wednesday — though an arrest warrant had been issued for him shortly after the Houston-area stabbing — on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and disorderly conduct, The Associated Press reports.

Schulz, according to police, stabbed the manager three times after refusing to follow the restaurant’s policy to mask up to help stifle the spread of COVID-19.

© Provided by New York Daily News This undated photo provided by the League City (Texas) Police Department shows James Schulz Jr. Police in Texas arrested Schulz Jr. on Sept. Sept. 29, who was accused of stabbing a restaurant manager with a pocketknife after being told he needed to wear a mask.

This undated photo provided by the League City (Texas) Police Department shows James Schulz Jr. Police in Texas arrested Schulz Jr. on Sept. Sept. 29, who was accused of stabbing a restaurant manager with a pocketknife after being told he needed to wear a mask.

The manager had sustained injures to his arm and upper torso, according to authorities, and was treated at a hospital before being released.

Schulz, who was 53 at the time of the incident in League City, about 26 miles southeast of Houston, was reported by KTRK at the time to have “belligerently refused” to mask up.

League City Police Chief Gary Ratliff in March noted that Schulz had said that the restaurant “did not want to serve him because he was homeless and began yelling that he would be contacting his attorney as he was filming with his cell phone,” according to KTRK.

The man was escorted outside by the manager — whose name has not been released — only to run back in and attack the staffer with an apparent pocketknife, according to KTRK.

With News Wire Services