Texas City mask confrontation leads to arrest of wanted woman

GALVESTON

The woman who last week made national headlines over being detained for trespassing at a Galveston bank after refusing to wear a mask was arrested Wednesday in Texas City after refusing to wear a mask inside another business.

Terry Lynn Wright, 65, was arrested on two outstanding warrants about 9 a.m. after police were called to the Office Depot in Texas City about a woman refusing to wear a mask in the building or leave, Texas City Police spokesman Cpl. Allen Bjerke said.

Officers recognized Wright from news last week of a similar incident in Galveston, Bjerke said. Wright was arrested on Galveston warrants for trespassing and resisting arrest, Bjerke said. She was taken into custody without incident, he said.

Wright was not charged for trespassing at the office supply store, Bjerke said.

“At this time, we don’t feel it’s necessary to file additional charges,” Bjerke said. “There were no further incidents out there at the scene.”

Although Wright had been detained in Galveston on March 11, she hadn’t been officially booked or charged until Wednesday.

Wright was slightly injured during a confrontation with the Galveston police officer and was left to be treated at the hospital. She was discharged without being arrested.

Galveston police confirmed Tuesday warrant division officers were searching for Wright.

Wright, a resident of Grants Pass, Oregon, in several interviews after the Galveston incident said she was on a cross-country “bucket list” road trip.

Her bond was set at $3,000 on misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass and resisting arrest, according to police. She was held in the Galveston County Jail Wednesday afternoon.

While Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on March 10 lifted statewide mandates requiring masks in public places, he emphasized that businesses could decide on their own pandemic rules about requiring masks on their premises.

Police and public officials had warned that people who don’t follow a business’ mask rules could be charged with trespassing or other offenses.

The incident at Office Depot was the only call the Texas City Police Department had received about masks since the state mandate ended March 10, Bjerke said.