Woman charged for violating stay home order

CASTALIA — A Castalia woman was charged with violating Ohio's stay-at-home order Monday, in what appears to be the first case of someone in Erie County being charged for failing to abide by the order. The woman, a 53-year-old Ohio 101 resident, was charged with a second-degree misdemeanor for allegedly violating the order, along with a misdemeanor for driving with a suspended license. According to Ohio's criminal code, someone can be charged for violating any rule of a health department during a "pandemic, epidemic or bioterrorism event." Ohio's recent stay-at-home order, issued to prevent spread of coronavirus during the ongoing pandemic, says people can only go to stores to buy food or other essential supplies. Erie County sheriff's deputies were first called to a store on Ohio 101 after an employee allegedly found the woman with merchandise — a potted cactus and a greeting card — in the woman's purse, according to a sheriff's report. The woman told the employee she didn't know the items were in her purse, left the items behind and departed the store. Sheriff's deputies later found the woman at her home, and learned she did purchase items — tweezers and a picture frame — at the store, the report states. When a deputy brought up the stay-at-home order and that she had not purchased any essential items, the woman said she wanted to buy disinfectant wipes but claimed the store didn't have any. Deputies charged the woman and gave her a court summons. The store also banned the woman, and law enforcement notified her.