The owners of 60 businesses including car washes, gyms and hair salons across Los Angeles deemed nonessential by the city but still remain open are now facing criminal charges for violating the mayor’s stay-at-home order.
Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer revealed the latest round of the crackdown on businesses flouting Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Safer at Home order by staying open. Dozens of businesses have been identified by Los Angeles police as keeping open despite being told to close. Police investigators have turned over evidence against at least 79 businesses identified by the department.
The number of businesses seemingly ignoring Garcetti’s order has risen steadily as the shutdown drags on and many small business owners struggle to keep operating. While Gov. Gavin Newsom has begun some phased reopening, L.A. County’s Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer has said the county’s stay-at-home orders will “with all certainty” be extended for the next three months.
Feuer on Tuesday said Garcetti made it clear that only essential businesses, such as healthcare providers, organizations serving vulnerable populations and grocery stores, may remain open during the COVID-19 emergency. The prosecutor noted the advice of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had warned Tuesday of the danger of reopening early and in these cases, Feuer said, illegally.
“As Dr. Fauci warned this morning, all our hard work to slow the spread of COVID-19 could be squandered if businesses violate the rules and open prematurely,” Feuer said. “Of course all of us want to get back to work and return to our routines, and I’m extremely sympathetic with businesses that are struggling so much right now. But we will get our economy going sooner if all of us have the discipline to follow the rules now.
“So as we begin the task of carefully reopening Los Angeles, my office will continue to be vigilant in enforcing the Safer at Home Order, ensuring that nonessential businesses open only after our health experts say it’s safe to do so,” Feuer said.
Each owner of the 60 businesses faces a criminal misdemeanor charge while the businesses could lose their license to operate. Among them is a San Fernando Valley Harley-Davidson dealer, an Egyptian artifacts store and a dozen smoke shops.
