BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Buffalo woman has been charged with assault of a federal employee and threatening to assault a federal employee, after prosecutors say she spat on a United States Postal Service worker and threatening to cough on him to give him the coronavirus.
According to court documents, on March 19, 39-year-old Melissa C. Daniels-Johnson of Buffalo entered the postal parking lot at the Cheektowaga Post Office on Galleria Drive using the exit lane. A letter carrier who was collecting mail from a collection box told Daniels-Johnson she had entered the wrong way.
The letter carrier says Daniels-Johnson responded by "screaming profanities" at him, and threatened to cough on him to give him the coronavirus. A USPS manager tried to de-escalate the situation. The court documents say when Daniels-Johnson attempted to pull away, she drove near the where the letter carrier was working and pointed a cellphone at him. The letter carrier says Daniels-Johnson told him she was sending her husband to "(expletive) him up." He says she then spat at him.
The letter carrier was able to use a mail bucket to shield his face, but spit landed on his shorts and right leg.
If convicted, the charges against Daniels-Johnson carry a maximum sentence of eight years in prison. She is scheduled to appear in federal court on April 27.
