'You now have COVID': Massachusetts police hunt man accused of giving shoppers 'coronavirus hugs' at a Walmart

• The police in Springfield, Massachusetts, are searching for a man who they say approached shoppers in a Walmart, hugged them, and then claimed he was infected with COVID-19.
• The police say the man walked up to one shopper, hugged him, and said "Just giving you a COVID hug" before laughing and walking away.
• One of the victims of the potentially dangerous, unwanted hugs was a cancer survivor.
• The police released an image from security-camera footage of a suspect seen wearing a mask. He is said to be wanted on suspicion of assault and battery and making terroristic threats.

The police in Springfield, Massachusetts, are hunting for a man they say targeted shoppers in Walmart to give them "coronavirus hugs."

In one instance, the person walked up to a man, took an item out of his hands, and hugged him, a Facebook post by the Springfield Police Department said.

The police said he then told the man "Just giving you a COVID hug — you now have COVID," before laughing and walking away.

The police said the victim, who is a cancer survivor, said he had never met the man before.

The man is accused of embracing other customers as well.

The police have identified a suspect seen wearing a face mask in surveillance footage. He faces charges of assault and battery and making terroristic threats if caught by the police, the New York Post reported.

Under state law, anyone who communicates a threat orally, in writing, "or by other means" — either directly or indirectly — can be charged with making terroristic threats, the paper reported.

The police department is asking that anyone with information contact it.

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