Police in Pennsylvania fined a woman more than $200 for taking a drive amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Anita Shaffer, 19, was driving around her town to get out of the house last weekend when two state police cars pulled her over in York County. The officers reportedly initially pulled her over for a busted taillight and dark window tinting, but she was then fined for violating the state’s stay-at-home order.
“He asked me if I was aware of the stay-at-home act,” she said. “I am aware of it, but I didn’t know it pertained to just driving,” she responded.
Shaffer was alone in the car and said she had no intention of leaving the vehicle during her trip. The officers also asked her if she was under the influence and told her to step out of the car. She told the officers she had not been drinking or taking drugs but that she was just taking a leisurely drive.
Shaffer recounted that the officers told her they were not going to fine her over the taillight or window tinting, “but you should be at home during this act that’s in place right now and just get the taillight fixed.”
Her citation states that she “failed to abide by the order of the governor and secretary of health issued to control the spread of a communicable disease, requiring the closure of all non-life-sustaining businesses as of 20:00 hours on March 19, 2020. To wit, defendant states that she was ‘going for a drive’ after this violation was in effect.”
Shaffer’s father said, “I think this is a little bit over the top. There’s a fine line here, but at the same time, we still have some freedom, some rights and liberties, and we’re allowed to operate our cars. We’re allowed to go for a walk. We’re allowed to go to the park and we’re even able to go to work.”
“The public should be a little bit careful, and I think our people in office ought to understand what some of the repercussions are,” he added. “Some of the things border on harassment that could start to take place here if we have a police force that could be looking at things in the wrong light and maybe taking things too far.”
The daughter and father also inspected the taillight when she got home and found it was working fine.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf extended stay-at-home orders in the state until April 30, saying, “This virus is spreading rapidly. It’s in every corner of our state. It’s gotten into our nursing homes and our prisons. And it’s filling up our hospital beds.”
