Waukee man tries to give COVID-19 to Waukee police officer

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Mark Allen Bishop, 61, of Waukee was arrested Tuesday on a Dallas County warrant for assault while displaying a dangerous weapon and on a charge of assault with intent to inflict serious injury.

A Waukee man was arrested Tuesday morning for allegedly attempting to infect a Waukee police officer with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Mark Allen Bishop, 61, of 797 S.E. Waterview Circle, Waukee, was arrested on a Dallas County warrant for assault while displaying a dangerous weapon and was charged with assault with intent to inflict serious injury.

The incident began about 7:15 a.m. Tuesday in the 700 block of Waterview Circle in Waukee, where officers of the Waukee Police Department served an arrest warrant at Bishop’s residence.

According to court records, the officers made entry to the residence and detained Bishop.

In court records, Waukee Police Department Officer Dace Richardson claimed that while other officers were clearing the building, Bishop “looked in my direction and several times coughed in my face. Last week Mark advised myself and Dallas County Jail that he had COVID-19. COVID-19 has killed many people in this country, and we do not understand how it reacts to different individuals.”

According to Richardson, Bishop “knowingly tried to spread the virus on myself and put me in fear for my health.”

The arrest warrant was ordered Dec. 10 in connection with a Dec. 4 incident in which a female neighbor knocked on the door of Bishop’s residence, and Bishop opened the door with “a black .380 Ruger handgun in his hands” and allegedly “pointed it in her direction,” according to court records.

Bishop denied “pointing the handgun in her direction,” but a witness said Bishop “pointed his handgun towards the glass front door,” according to court records.

Bishop is held without bond in the Dallas County Jail in advance of an initial appearance in the Dallas County District Court.

Bishop was convicted of disorderly conduct in October in Dallas County District Court in connection with an Aug. 18 incident in which Bishop “removed a firearm from his gun safe in his residence” and “removed the magazine but discharged the round in the chamber of the gun. The firearm discharged in his bedroom, and the bullet went through the wall
that joins the two properties.” The bullet damaged the wall in the adjoining residence and “ricocheted off of the wall and the bathroom cabinet, coming to rest on a bathroom rug near the bathroom door.” The court ordered Bishop to pay $327.05 in restitution.

*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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