SANTA ANA, Calif.- A man who punched two medical assistants at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Tustin and later groped a nurse who was providing him medical care has been charged with misdemeanor battery and resisting arrest.
On December 30, 2021, Thomas Apollo, 44, of Poway, was asked to leave the Families Together clinic after he refused to wear a mask. Apollo is accused of acting erratically, calling the clinic workers “murderers,” and using expletives toward employees who asked him to put on a mask or go back outside.
Apollo is accused of punching one of the medical assistants five times and another medical assistant twice. Several bystanders pinned Apollo down until police arrived.
Apollo is accused of refusing to follow commands given by Tustin police, who ultimately used a taser to be able to subdue him so that he could be handcuffed.
He is also accused of grabbing a nurse’s finger and bending it and groping her breast while she was treating him for minor cuts and scrapes while at O.C. Global Medical Center.
Apollo has been charged with one misdemeanor count of battery on a nurse, two misdemeanor counts of battery and one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest. He faces a maximum sentence of three years in the Orange County Jail if convicted on all counts.
“Instead of being treated with the same compassion and respect in which they treat their patients, these health care workers were punched in the face and physically assaulted for just trying to do their jobs,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Violence of any kind will not be tolerated and we will hold this individual accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Apollo is scheduled to be arraigned at the Central Justice Center in Department C54 on March 30, 2022.
Deputy District Attorney Matthew Bradbury of Special Prosecutions is prosecuting this case.
