Lockdown enforcement is becoming more authoritarian.
Undercover cops arrested two women in Laredo, Texas, for violating the city’s COVID-19 shutdown order. The women, Ana Isabel Castro-Garcia and Brenda Stephanie Mata, had been operating prohibited cosmetology businesses from their home.
The Laredo lockdown mandates that “non-essential” businesses, including cosmetology services, must close. Police say the women were reported anonymously through the department’s app.
“Both of the violators independently solicited customers via social media,” the department told the Laredo Morning Times. “On both cases, an undercover officer working on the COVID-19 task force enforcement detail made contact with each solicitor to set up an appointment for a cosmetic, beauty service that is prohibited under the emergency ordinance.” Police posing as customers then arrested both women in their homes.
Both women were charged with a Class B misdemeanor, which comes with a maximum potential penalty of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. The two women were released on $500 personal recognizance bonds.
Laredo pair allegedly violated coronavirus stay-at-home order with beauty businesses