Police Chief Jimmy McCloud

 

Two Batesville restaurants have been issued tickets this week for violation of the city’s curfew put into place by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen as part of their efforts to convince residents to stay at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Huddle House management was cited for allowing customers to come inside the restaurant to pick up their takeout orders.

Domino’s was ticketed when officers found them serving well past the 9 p.m. curfew.

Representatives of the two businesses ticketed will appear in Batesville Municipal Court to answer the charges. Each faces a fine of up to $1,000 and/or up to 90 days in jail if found guilty.

Police Chief Jimmy McCloud said he and other officers spent several days warning businesses to pay close attention to the limits of customers inside their stores and to closely adhere to the curfew before they began to issue tickets.

“We don’t like writing tickets,  but they made us do it because they didn’t take us seriously,” McCloud said. “We hate to do it because we know these businesses are struggling along with everybody else, but we’re not giving any more warnings.”

The chief said no individuals have yet to be ticketed for curfew violation, but offices were busy over the weekend giving warnings. Those citizen warnings will also result in tickets if problems persist after police interaction.

“Most are doing really well, but the point is that people don’t need to get lax,” McCloud said. “The quicker people take this thing a hundred percent serious the quicker we can get back to our regular lives.”

The citywide curfew is from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. During that time all citizens should be sheltered for the night and not be outside unless they are traveling to or from work, or out for medical and other emergencies.

All businesses in Batesville are to be closed during those hours, except those given permission to stay open by the city board. Only truck stops are allowed to be open because they serve over-the-road truckers who need fuel and facilities at all hours of the night.

The city board defined a truck stop as a business that sells diesel fuel and has a full bath and shower facilities available for truckers at all times. In Batesville, there are two such stores – Love’s Travel Stop and Batesville Truck Stop, both located on Hwy. 35N at the North Batesville exit on I-55.