South Bay Woman Seen Coughing In Baby's Face Charged With Assault

SAN JOSE, CA — Prosecutors announced that a South Bay teacher caught on camera coughing into a 1-year-old baby’s face was charged with assault and will be arraigned next week.

In a news release Friday, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said that 66-year-old Nancy Nordland, a former elementary school teacher at Alex Anderson Elementary School in San Jose, was identified as the suspect within days of the June 2020 incident.

Nordland removed her mask and coughed three times in an infant’s face after she got into an argument with a woman in line at a Yogurtland in San Jose, according to prosecutors. When confronted by witnesses, prosecutors said Nordland fled the scene. Police posted surveillance footage of the incident and received tips identifying Nordland as the suspect.

“All of us must practice empathy and patience as we work together through this pandemic,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a news release. “Taking your frustrations out on someone’s child is unacceptable — and criminal.”

The district fired Nordland shortly after the video of her coughing on the toddler surfaced. She was working at the date of incident, the principal of the school told police.