[displacedinMN]

People fined here for violating stay at home order

A Winnebago, Minn., police officer was on patrol last month when he was struck by the sight of four cars parked outside Shooters Bar.

When he tried to investigate whether the bar was defying Gov. Tim Walz's March 16 executive order requiring bars and restaurants to cease dine-in service, he found the door locked and four men inside playing cards and drinking.

Bar owner David M. Schuster of Winnebago was charged March 26 in Faribault County District Court with a rare offense — violating an emergency powers order or rule.

Schuster, 57, became the first Minnesotan charged with violating one of Walz's several executive orders aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19,

A Cottage Grove officer was on patrol Tuesday when he saw a local woman driving. She had a history of driving while her license was canceled, said court documents.

The officer stopped her.

"She told me that she just left Taco Bell and before that she was organizing her belongings at Acorn Mini Storage in Cottage Grove," said the citation.

The officer cited the woman for driving after cancellation and for violating Walz's stay-at-home order.

Ronald W. Beattie Jr., of Baxter, was charged April 9 after police found his lingerie and underwear store, Risky Business, open in Brainerd.

According to the charges: Police received information on March 31 that the store was open. An officer found two cars parked out front and the “open” sign lit up. A third vehicle pulled up. The officer reached Beattie, who was not at the store, by phone.

Beattie “stated that his store was an essential business as a ‘general merchandise’ store,” the charges said.

Walz has limited business operations to essential stores such as grocery stores, pharmacies and home improvement stores, among others.

A man who answered the phone at Risky Business on Monday declined to comment.