Borice Leouskiy and Yuliia Andreichenko, California newlyweds arrested after breaking coronavirus social distancing during their honeymoon stay at Waikiki-area, Hawaii hotel.
A California couple who allegedly refused to sign a coronavirus quarantine acknowledgment after checking into a Hawaii hotel for their honeymoon have come afoul of that state’s social distancing laws.
Newlyweds, Borice Leouskiy, 20, and Yuliia Andreichenko, 26, were arrested after ‘continuously’ flouting Hawaii’s mandatory quarantine for travelers, KHON reported.
Upon checking into their Waikiki-area hotel Wednesday night, the Citrus Heights, California couple were read the requirements of a two-week self-quarantine only for the couple to ‘scoff’ at the directives, claiming they contradicted what airport screeners told them.
They told staff that they planned to visit friends and beaches during the isolation period then left the hotel premises later that evening, KHON reported.
When they returned just after midnight, the couple was carrying a pizza and told the manager that they were allowed to leave to buy food, the report said.
Come Thursday the couple who were observed ‘once again’ leaving hotel grounds were apprehended by special agents for the Department of the Hawaii Attorney General.
Agents were notified by hotel management and were waiting for the couple upon their return to the hotel later that day.
‘We appreciate the vigilance and cooperation of the hotel staff, and staff at other hotels, in helping maintain the health and safety of visitors and residents,’ state Attorney General Clare Connors said in a statement. ‘It is important that everyone flying into Hawai’i at this time, abide by our mandatory rules.’
Connors’ office did not name the hotel.
Leouskiy and Andreichenko were booked under Hawai’i Revised Statutes for unsworn falsification to authority and violation of the 14-day quarantine.
The couple face maximum penalties of a $5,000 fine and up to a year in jail.
Andreichenko is a Ukrainian national and Leouskiy is a U.S. citizen, according to the Hawaii attorney general’s office.
As of Sunday night, California has reported more than 54,741 coronavirus cases, with 2210 deaths while Hawaii has reported 620 cases and 17 instances of deaths as a result of COVID-19.