A 17-year-old worker at a theme park in Pennsylvania suffers a sprained jaw and will require surgery after he was attacked by a couple he asked to wear masks, police said.
The worker at Sesame Place on the edge of Philadelphia met the couple, a man and a woman, in the park hours before the incident Sunday and reminded them to wear masks, Middletown Township Lt. Steve Forman in a telephone interview Tuesday.
“Their staff are trying to get the governor’s message across,” said Forman, referring to the theme park staff and Tom Wolf’s mandate to wear masks in public.
Sesame Place requires guests 2 years of age and older to wear face masks when in the park, except when eating and drinking or in designated recreation areas. Face coverings are not allowed in the park’s water attractions.
Shortly after 5pm on Sunday, an altarpiece arrived after the park worker repeated his memory of the couple, who were on a ride, to wear their masks, the police lieutenant said.
The couple reacted in an aggressive manner, Forman said.
“During the course of this confrontation, they escalated the incident, with both the female and male slapping the 17-year-old male staff of Sesame Place in the face, hitting him to the ground,” Forman said.
The worker was taken to a hospital by ambulance. He sustained injuries to his jaw and teeth, Forman said, adding that the teen needed surgery to get his jaw back in place.
“A full recovery is expected,” Forman said. “It will be an uncomfortable recovery.”
“It’s unfortunate that you have a 17-year-old working hard and he’s doing the right thing and reminding people of the governor’s mask policy and orders, and they have not received it properly,” Forman added.
A review of surveillance footage determined that the couple was part of a group of about seven that included children and adults, Forman said. The entire party left the park after the incident. The suspects were tentatively identified through the registration on the car in which they entered.
In addition to examining an “incredible” amount of oversight in response to the incident, the investigation included reviewing the suspects’ reservation and transaction records, which are presumably from New York City, Forman said. .
He said Middletown Township police are cooperating with the New York City Police Department and New York State Police to track down the couple.
Sesame Place, a theme for children and water parks, is working “at a greatly reduced capacity,” due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Forman.
A Sesame Place spokeswoman, Dana Ryan, said the employee was seriously injured in the attack.
“We have been in close communication with the family of our injured team member, and hope for a speedy and speedy recovery,” Ryan said in a statement Tuesday. “The health and safety of our guests and team members is our top priority, and violence of any kind is unacceptable and intolerable in our park.”
