Man gets probation for coughing in face of Grapevine officer, then saying he had COVID
A man who claimed he had COVID-19 and then coughed into the face of a Grapevine police officer was sentenced to two years of probation on Thursday, according to Tarrant County court records.
Jonathan Dechoudens, 28, of Grapevine, received the sentence in Criminal District Court No. 396 in Fort Worth.
The incident occurred on April 3, 2020, just weeks after the coronavirus pandemic started in the United States.
Dechoudens later told Grapevine police that it was a joke.
As of Friday, more than 39 million people have contracted COVID-19 in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 640,000 have died from the virus.
The incident occurred about 12:45 a.m. on April 3, 2020, as the Grapevine officer was sitting in his marked patrol unit in a parking lot on Northwest Highway in Grapevine.
The officer had his driver’s window down.
At some point, Dechoudens is accused of running up to the car on the driver’s side, coughing in the officer’s face and telling him he had the coronavirus.
Fearing being exposed to the potentially deadly virus, the Grapevine officer called other officers and medics to the scene to screen Dechoudens.
Dechoudens was later arrested and booked into the Grapevine jail on a charge of terroristic threat.
After the incident, the Grapevine officer was free of symptoms and he was monitored every day. His temperature was checked each shift as were all employees who entered the Grapevine Public Safety Building.
At the time, Grapevine police noted that anyone who claimed to have the virus and tried to give it to someone else would be charged.
