23 Charged With Violating Stay-At-Home Order

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Twenty-three people have been charged with violating Minnesota's stay-at-home order aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

In many cases, law enforcement officers added the misdemeanor charge as a secondary offense to another crime. Violating an emergency order is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000.

Gov. Tim Walz began issuing executive orders relating to COVID-19 in mid-March, including one which told Minnesotans to stay home except to buy food and other limited reasons.

Among those charged is a Chaska man who allegedly arrived at a Roseville hotel to meet a prostitute he met online. Another involved a suspected drunken driver whose truck got stuck in a construction zone in Pine City. He fled on foot and tried to hide in a shed.

Walz and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety have encouraged education over enforcement of the order.