Woman jailed for coughing on officers, claiming she had COVID

A woman admits that three months into the COVID-19 pandemic, she coughed on five Saskatoon police officers and told them she had the virus while she was being arrested for mischief.

On June 5, police arrested Faron Cheyenne Longman for breaking windows with a fence post, Crown prosecutor Melodi Kujawa said during the woman's sentencing hearing in Saskatoon provincial court last week.

Longman, who was intoxicated, lunged at the arresting officer, coughed in his face and told him she had COVID, doing the same thing to three other officers when she was brought to the police station, court heard.

“I don't believe that she did have COVID, but of course the officers didn't know that at the time,” Kujawa said, adding she isn't aware if the officers had to self-isolate as a precaution.

Longman, 34, pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting a peace officer, one count of mischief and one breach of probation.

Kujawa and legal aid lawyer Nathan Forester jointly proposed a 12-month sentence, minus an enhanced remand credit of six and a half months for Longman's time in custody since her arrest.

Court heard she has a “related record” of 11 violent convictions — including two prior assaults against peace officers — 46 breaches and two mischiefs. She was also on probation for a different assault when she was arrested.

The proposed sentence attempts to balance the need to deter assaults against peace officers with the fact that Longman has “serious mental health issues” and Gladue factors, Kujawa said.

“She acknowledges what she did was wrong and appreciates that there's a consequence to be had with that,” Forester told court. “It is a unique case in terms of dealing with the pandemic and the issues that it creates ... with spitting events.”

Judge Brent Klause accepted the joint submission, encouraging Longman to follow through with her plan to move to a sober living community in Prince Albert when she gets out of jail.