New Jersey police arrested one gym member and cited another after they attended the gym in defiance of the state’s stay-at-home orders.
Police arrested one person who attended Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, New Jersey, fined several others, and also charged the owners, Ian Smith and Frank Trumbetti, who reopened Monday, according to 3 CBS Philly.
LANGUAGE WARNING: at least one person arrested when he exited Atitlis Gym in Bellmawr. The charges are unknown at this time @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/dv8WvVgKvP
— Howard Monroe (@HMonroeNews) May 19, 2020
“I’m just trying to get back to having a gym and normal life,” Trumbetti said this week. “People keep asking me if I’m afraid. Absolutely, but I’m more afraid that my kids aren’t going to have rights.”
Trumbetti says his business has implemented safety measures and is operating at 20% capacity and asking members to wear masks, but Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says those precautions aren’t enough.
“We are constantly war-gaming this. But inside, lacking ventilation, sedentary in close proximity, those are really hard nuts to crack,” Murphy said.
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal issued a statement promising that patrons of the gym “will be held accountable for violating the Governor’s orders.”
“Their actions threaten not only public safety, but also the safety of our police officers who are being called upon to disperse gatherings both inside and outside the gym,” Grewal said.
BREAKING:
One member arrested, 3 others stopped as they left @TheAtilisGym.
We’re told by the owners the man who was taken by police refused to give his name.
Owners say they’re warning their members before they enter every day that this is a possibility.@News12NJ pic.twitter.com/R1w3BnKogH— Erika Shych (@erikashych) May 19, 2020
Smith and Trumbetti could be fined up to $2,000, but they say they plan to fight the issue in court, and an online petition has already raised $24,000 to help them with legal bills.
