A Southern California man was arrested after attacking staffers at a vaccination clinic last week, while calling workers 'murderers' and accusing them of causing the COVID pandemic, according to police and clinic officials.
Thomas Apollo, of Poway, walked into the Families Together of Orange County mobile clinic in Tustin without a mask on, on December 30, and began abusing staff, police say.
Things quickly escalated and the 43-year-old allegedly attacked two staff members, including Parsia Jahanbani, who had to be hospitalized.
Multiple staff attempted to pull Apollo off Jahanbani, 37, a mobile operations manager for Families Together, and seven police officers were eventually needed to restrain Apollo, who was tasered three times, over about 15 minutes.
Apollo was arrested and booked into the Orange County jail Thursday for charges of battery and resisting arrest.
He was released Friday, records show. No photos of Apollo were available as of Wednesday night.
Parsia Jahanbani, pictured, was one of two staffers at the clinic who Apollo attacked
Brian Lopez, 15, receives the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from Parsia Jahanbani in a mobile vaccine clinic operated by Families Together of Orange County, August 26, 2021
Pictured: the Families Together of Orange County mobile clinic in Tustin, California, the site of last week's attack
'He said, 'I don't need a mask, I don't have the virus, and you are the ones making people sick,'' Jahanbani, 37, told the Orange County Register.
'And just every type of profanity you can imagine.'
Families Together, which has administered over 50,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines as of Wednesday, said Jahanbani, 'sustained serious injuries and was sent to the hospital in an ambulance' but that both workers 'are expected to make a full recovery within a few days.'
'We're extremely saddened to report that staff members working to help vaccinate patients in Tustin were attacked last week,' a statement from the clinic read.
'While Families Together believes that vaccines are important in the fight against the pandemic, we understand
