A man arrested Sunday night in East Dallas lied to authorities and told them he had the coronavirus so he would be released from jail, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Officers responded at 9 p.m. Sunday to a disturbance at an apartment complex in the 4900 block of Hudson Street. When they arrived, Dallas Fire Rescue had taken a 24-year-old man to a hospital to be treated for injuries he received during an assault. After the man had been treated, he was taken to jail and charged with assault of a family member, according to the Morning News.
The newspaper reported that the arrestee later told a nurse at the Dallas County Jail that he had traveled abroad and was infected with the coronavirus. He was taken to Parkland Hospital and was monitored Monday “out of an abundance of caution.”
When doctors examined him, the man showed no signs of being ill, said Mike Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association. He told the Morning News that the individual knew he could stay out of jail by claiming to be sick.
“There has not been, and are not currently, any cases of the coronavirus in the Dallas County Jail,” a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department told the newspaper.
Five police officers who came into contact with the man were given a day off for precautionary reasons. The squad cars involved in the man’s arrest were also removed from service for cleaning.
