How are Columbia area police enforcing coronavirus emergency orders?
Otto Smith says his print shop is an essential service. In the midst of a public health crisis, DMS Printing’s small shop on Bull Street added face masks and scrubs to the usual clothing items they put out.
But increasingly strict lockdown rules over the past month classed the shop differently, and after he was cited by police for violating Columbia’s stay-at-home order on April 7, Smith shut DMS down.
“We’re not any different from any of the other printers going on. Other printing services are still open,” Smith said.
Smith’s shop is among at least 11 businesses in the city of Columbia that have been cited for continuing to operate after they had been ordered to shut down.
Even as Gov. Henry McMaster extended a state of emergency in South Carolina for another 15 days on Monday, local law enforcement agencies in the Columbia area have taken a light touch in enforcing the emergency orders issued during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
It’s not just businesses that have been affected. Around a dozen people have been charged with various violations of emergency orders issued during the coronavirus crisis.
The governor’s office has issued several orders since McMaster declared an emergency on March 13, requiring S.C. residents to stay home when not working or carrying out essential activities, requiring businesses to close or modify how they operate, and allowing police to disperse any crowd of three or more people. But enforcing those orders has been left up to local police and sheriff’s deputies across the state.
On March 27, a Richland County sheriff’s deputy arrested David Cleveland, 58, outside the Dollar General on Bluff Road. But like others who have faced charges, he wasn’t arrested solely because of the coronavirus emergency.
Cleveland was previously issued a trespassing notice for the Dollar General. An arrest report also alleges he became argumentative, attempted to flee arrest and physically tussled with the deputy until a stun gun was used to subdue him. He faces charges of trespassing after notice, breach of the peace, resisting arrest and assaulting an officer.
Cleveland also faces a charge of “illegal acts during a state of emergency,” specifically violating the order barring groups of three or more from congregating, and for refusing to disperse when ordered to by an officer.
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department has charged six others with offenses under McMaster’s executive order. Five have been charged with not complying with an officer’s orders during the state of emergency, and one was charged with breaking and entering during a state of emergency.
At least six people have been charged by Columbia police with violating the city curfew, violating either the city “stay at home” order or the statewide order later issued by the governor, or other illegal acts during a state of emergency.
One man was charged with violating the work or home order after his car collided with a house on Chestnut Street on April 8, on top of DUI, hit and run and reckless driving charges.
In fact, all of those charged have been accused of other crimes on top of the emergency-related charges. Police agencies in the Midlands have said their first step during the state of emergency is to educate people about the new restrictions, and most people have been willing to comply after a purely verbal warning.
But in Columbia, several businesses have been cited for continuing to operate despite restrictions on business operations.
Of those businesses cited by the city of Columbia, six were vape shops, a point of contention early in the shutdown. All citations provided by Columbia Police Department were issued between April 4 and April 9, before the S.C. Department of Commerce issued a ruling that shops selling e-cigarettes and vaporizers would be deemed “essential” services under the governor’s emergency order.
Others cited include Michael’s on Fort Jackson Boulevard, Kim’s Beauty Max on West Beltline Boulevard, GameStop on Garners Ferry Road by the Walmart Supercenter, Charlotte CBD on Harden Street, and DMS Printing on Bull Street.
Charlotte CBD assistant manager Connie Jackson said the North Carolina-based shop selling cannabis-derived health products sees itself as a medical service. Like vape shops, its Five Points location is also back open as an exempted business.
“We’re essential because a lot of people use our products to medicate themselves,” Jackson said. “I’m glad the governor deemed us essential... we reopened a day and a half later and didn’t miss a beat.”
GameStop and Michael’s did not comment for this story prior to publication. A man who answered the phone at Kim’s declined to give his name but argued an attorney general’s opinion questioning if cities had the authority to issue their own stay-at-home orders meant the beauty shop should not have had to close.
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