The man who assaulted a grocery store customer before spitting at his face has been sentenced to ten years in jail.
Shane Wayne Michael told Mark Dinning after the assault: “If I have it, you have it!” implying he had infected him with coronavirus.
They were at the Vision 4 Less eyewear store in Des Moines when Dinning asked Michael to put his face mask over his nose, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Michael alleged that it was Dinning who prompted the attack, the news outlet reported. He claimed that the victim ‘shoulder-checked him’ and ‘poked him in the stomach’ when they both left the store.
He also told police that they eventually had a fight, with Dinning biting his arm so he pinned him to the ground and poked his finger in the victim’s left eye.
But a witness named Bob Darr said that it was Michael who initiated the fight by following Dinning out of the store.
Police arrested Michael, whose mugshot photo does not show any visible injuries. He was charged with assault causing bodily injury.
Polk County prosecutors offered Michael a plea deal, which would’ve allowed him to enter a plea of willful injury causing bodily harm – a lesser charge that would’ve gotten him only two years of probation.
However, Michael rejected the plea deal before deciding upon a jury trial. The charges were then upgraded to willful injury causing serious injury – a far more serious offense.
Michael was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison.
His father, Dennis Michael, spoke out about the prison sentence. He told the Capital Dispatch of the sentencing: “It’s like (Dinning) got a black eye in a bar fight, and now my son is getting 10 years in prison.”
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