Couple Reportedly Maced In San Diego's Ocean Beach By Masked Woman

July 24, 2020

A video is making waves on social media that appears to show a woman macing a man at Dusty Rhodes Park in San Diego's Ocean Beach. Allegedly, the woman approached a young couple who was enjoying lunch with their puppy and harassed them for not wearing facial coverings before macing both them and their food.

"So this happened today at dusty rhodes dog park today in ocean beach," wrote Ash Sherilynn O'Brien on her Facebook page. "This is my husband getting maced by a random old lady. We had our 3 month old pug with us. We were just sitting down eating lunch and minding our own business. We were not wearing masks because we were eating. You can’t wear a mask and eat at the same time. She kept calling us idiots and flipping me off. Then she started saying more stuff and I told her to leave the park and stop harassing us. She then came right up to our table wear we were eating, pointed the mace at me first and got a little on me, and then my husband stepped in and took the entire can. Thank god for the bystander that took this video because we are going to the police now to press charges. I am sharing this because people need to watch out for this lady in San Diego. Please share to spread awareness. That is me crying hysterically in the background because my innocent husband just got maced for no reason. We want justice."

On July 23, at around 3pm, Ash O'Brien and her significant other took their young puppy to Dusty Rhodes Park in San Diego's Ocean Beach. They were enjoying take-out from Phil's BBQ at one of the picnic tables. They were then approached by a masked woman with her dog who allegedly called them "idiots" for bringing in food. Apparently, Ash became upset because a random dog kept jumping on their table during the interaction, and this resulted in the woman reportedly getting upset because the couple was not wearing masks. 

"She then starts to walk around the park and flips me off," explained Ash. "So I told her if she had a problem she could come and talk to me. Keep in mind we didn’t get up from the table or go up to her once. She then comes over says more stuff. I can’t remember what she said because I was so angry already and then automatically points the mace in my face. So my husband being a good man stood in front of me telling her to stop and to calm down and then she started spraying. Got a little bit on me and sprayed the entire can of it on him. She also put my dog at risk including her own and another one. Pugs already have bad respiratory issues so he would’ve been killed. And any other kind of animal would be killed from mace. And then as she was pulling out of the parking lot a woman went up to her car and she started backing out and was purposely trying to hit her. And then she was gone. We also had to throw out our food because she maced our food as well."

Following the incident, the couple went to the nearest restroom to wash out their eyes with soap and water. They then drove to Balboa Hospital for the male to get treatment, then called the police and went downtown to report the incident. During the confrontation, a person not affiliated with either party recorded the below video