Neutral Bay Woolworths: police investigate face mask altercation at north shore supermarket

An altercation over face mask protocols left shoppers in shock at a Sydney supermarket. It comes as police have released details of a string of COVID-19 breaches across the region in the last week.

Shoppers were left in shock after an altercation over mask mask protocols unfolded at a busy supermarket on Sydney’s north shore.

Police were called to investigate after a man was seen yelling at shoppers at the Woolworths outlet in Neutral Bay just before 2pm on Monday.

Video captured by a witness shows the man approached by two shoppers who questioned why he wasn’t wearing a mask around his mouth, and instead had it covering his chin.

A photo of an incident. Photo: Contributed

It is not known whether the man had a medical reason for not wearing the mask around his mouth.

The first confrontation took place in the dairy aisle before the man allegedly got into an altercation with another shopper at the front of the store about three minutes later.

Video of the second incident shows the man yelling at one of the shoppers, saying “don’t come up to me” before telling security staff that three men were “hassling” him.

The man then continued shopping.

The witness said onlookers were “taken aback” by the incident.

A photo of an incident.

It unfolded at Woolworths Neutral Bay.

“It was quite disturbing – a gentleman said to this guy politely ‘mate do you mind putting your mask over your face’ and the response was he basically exploded like a firecracker,” the witness said.

“He was yelling and screaming to the point where he was trying to shirt-front one of the shoppers at the front of the store.

“There were a lot of people around at the time and particularly some of the older people looked pretty intimidated and distressed.”

The incident was reported to Crime Stoppers and a North Shore Police spokeswoman said no charges or infringement notices have been issued in relation to the incident to date.

The man was spoken to by security guards.

“It’s a timely reminder that if you see something that if you see a potential breach of the COVID-19 orders to give police a call for us to investigate,” she said.

A Woolworth spokesman said the company expects its customers to wear face masks, in line with government requirements.

“We have prominent signage and in-store radio prompts to remind customers of this requirement,” he said.

“We ask that customers treat each other with respect and courtesy as we work through this difficult time together.”

The altercation comes as North Shore Police have investigated a string of unrelated COVID-19 breaches in the past week including a 40-year-old man who was issued with an infringement notice for visiting a friend in Artarmon on Sunday.

Another man was meanwhile handed an infringement notice on Saturday for leaving his home for around five hours to meet and drink with several mates in Chatswood.

Police were also called to St Leonards on Sunday after six construction workers were seen drinking and socialising after work at about 9pm on Sunday.

All six men were issued with infringement notices for breaching the current public health orders.