In the days after he became the first San Diego County business owner criminally charged for defying coronavirus-related health orders, Ramona gym owner Peter San Nicolas took to Facebook to decry the “Covid police” treating business owners “like common criminals.”
On Tuesday night, San Nicolas held an informal town hall-style meeting outside the Ramona Fitness Center for himself and other business owners to voice their frustrations with state and local shutdown orders.
The meeting came eight days after San Nicolas learned that San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan had charged him with five misdemeanors — each punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine up to $1,000 — for refusing to shut down his gym.