Toronto store owners say they were assaulted after forcibly removing customer for not wearing mask

ZhaoGuang Yu's facestill shows faint bruisingfrom the night six weeks ago when, his wife says, four men attacked himin their Toronto convenience store after she fought with a customer and physically forced her out of the store whenshe refusedto wear a mask.

Toronto police are now seeking the public'shelp identifying the four men and the female customer all around 18 years old in connection with the allegedassaultat Levol Convenience Food Mart on Dundas Street West,just south of Kensington Market in the city's downtown.

Police identified all five as suspects.

Zhao's wife, Xue Lin, says it's hard for her tolisten to her ownscreamson video footage recorded the night of April 15 on a surveillance camera outside,

The cameracaptured some of the sound, but neither the fight with the customer nor the altercation with the mencan be seen on camera.

Xue says shetried to shield Zhaowith her body as the men batteredhim against an ice cream freezer.

Minutes earlier, Xue says,the couple had forced a womanout of the storefor refusing to wear a mask.

Customer claimed she was attacked 'for no reason'

The customer was with another woman and was carryinga mask in her hand, Xuesaid. After asking her to put on themask several times, Xue said, she grabbed the customer to try to get her out of the store.

The customer hit her, Xue said, and the two fought as Xue and her husband pushed her toward the door.

"We [fought] each other," she said. "She hit me. I had to hit her, too."

The customer can be heardon the surveillance video saying she washit"for no reason." Four men,regular customers Xuerecognized, entered the store shortly after and started hitting her husband, Xue said.

Xue says she felt helpless and hugged him to try to protect him.

"Four guys, tall guys," she said. "Of course, we can't do anything."

Xue said theblows her husband took knocked him to the floor. One of the men kicked his facebefore theyleft, Xuesaid.

Toronto Police got a call about the altercation around 9:30 p.m.and say they are continuingto investigate the alleged assault. No arrests have been made in the case.

Police describe three of the male suspects asabout 5'10 with thin or slim builds. Two of them were wearing a red jacket, and one hasvery short hair, police said. The fourth man is described as about 5'9 with a medium build and short black hair.

The woman police are looking foris about 5'5 with a slim build and short black hair, police said.

• Read the police description of the suspects

Started requiring masks before lockdown

Zhao and Xuehave insisted all their customers wear a mask since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, evenbefore the provinceshutdown non-essential businessesin March and imposed emergency measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

A sign posted on the store's window says customers won't be let inside without a mask andthat masks can be purchasedinside.

Xue says most of her customers willingly wearmasksor buy one for $1 in the store.

She says she sees masks ascritical to helping reducethe spread of the novel coronavirus. Her parents live downstairs from the shop, and she says she feels a responsibility toher family and customers' health.

Public health officials have encouraged people to wear masks when they can't maintain the recommended two metres of physical distance from others as a means of protecting those close by from any potential virusdroplets that leave themouth.

Altercation out of view in surveillance footage

The altercation between Xue and the customer is out of view in the surveillance video, but thefootage shown to CBC by Xue capturedthecustomer saying, "Don't touch me," and then daringthe store ownersto strike her, saying: "Hit me," as Xue screamedather to get out.

Outside thestore, a woman's voice can be heard telling another person to call somebody. A sobbing woman later tells aman that store workers "attacked me for no reason."

When the men arrive, one can be heard on the surveillance footage yelling, "Why did you hit her?" and shouting at the couple beforeXue starts shrieking. Her husband can be heard yelling inapparent pain.

In a statement, Toronto police say it was reported that "while escorting the woman out, the woman slapped one of the staff members across the face and stated she would have someone come back to deal with them for having her removed."

A spokesperson said that, from a police perspective, it is generally considered reasonable to touch somebody to remove them from private property if they were directedto leave,as long as it is not excessive force.

A 'mountain' of bruising

Xue said the day after the altercation, Zhao'sface was black with bruises, with one eye"like a mountain."

"My husband stayed home [for]two weeks," she said.

He didn't want to see a doctor at the time because the hospital seemed too dangerous because of COVID-19, Xue said.

When asked about the nature of Zhao's injuries,Toronto Police spokesperson Const. Michelle Flannery said, "victim injuries is not something we normally provide."

Weeks later,Zhaois back to work,though he still has bruising on his face.

Xue said an incident like this has never happened in the store before, which the couple opened in 2016. But she did say there were two previous times thatshe grabbed customers who wouldn't wear masks and refused toleave, thencalled police.

Xuesays shedoesn't scare easily, even when working alone at night, and usually tries tohandle difficult situations herself.

Butafter the attack, to avoid conflict, she says, they have been keeping thedoor to the shoplocked in the eveningsand only open it to people wearing a mask.

'We don't want more people [to] get the virus'

Xuesays she and her husband will continue to insistonmasks even if it has meantlosing business during the pandemic.

"We don't want more people [to] get the virus," she said. "I reduce business? Fine. I need to do my way."

Xue says she has noticedmore peopletakingprecautions against COVID-19 in recent weeks, though some people still argue againstthe store's mask policy.

Xuesays shesometimes fillssimple orders for customers while they wait outside. The storealso offers free gloves for customers.

"We don't want fighting," said Xue.

"If you don't like to wear a mask ... you don't need to come in. [It's] fair to other customers, fair to us."