BATAVIA (AP) – A face mask dispute at an Illinois store ended with a man in custody Wednesday, according to police.
Police responded to a Menards home improvement store in Batavia just after 2 p.m. following a call about a customer with a gun, police said in a news release. When they arrived, officials learned that a worker had approached the customer – later identified as 51-year-old Timothy Ruschke – and asked him to put on a face mask in accordance with the store’s COVID-19 policy.
That’s when police said the man lifted his shirt and showed the worker a gun tucked into the waistband of his pants. The worker was “alarmed and disturbed,” police noted.
Officials arrived at the scene and said they found the man in the store still armed. Batavia police said Ruschke has a concealed carry permit.
Ruschke was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct — a misdemeanor with a court date pending.
Batavia is roughly 40 miles west of Chicago.