After arrest, gym owner defies California again to reopen

OCEANSIDE, Calif. (AP) — About a dozen weightlifters wearing face coverings did sets Thursday in front of mirrors at a Southern California gym that was reopened by the owner despite his arrest last weekend for violating local coronavirus health orders that closed gyms.

Lou Uridel — wearing a red, white and blue mask with a stars-and-stripes pattern and the words “justice for all” emblazoned across it — vowed to keep the doors open at Metroflex Gym in the coastal city of Oceanside, north of San Diego.

But he warned his customers they might be handcuffed and hauled off like he was on Sunday.

“There’s some members who kind of shy away from that and there’s some members who say, you know what, if they’re going to take me away in handcuffs for working out, then they can go ahead and do it," Uridel said.

Uridel may be the first business owner arrested in California for violating health orders by reopening, although a growing number are doing that.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk reopened his plant in defiance of Alameda County health rules and tweeted Monday he was prepared to be arrested. He wasn't and won praise from President Donald Trump.

Musk and local officials eventually reached an agreement to allow vehicle production to resume next week.

Authorities wary of a public backlash have preferred to use warnings to get local businesses to comply. Forcing one to shut its doors and citing the owner is rare, and arrests are considered a last resort.

Last week in neighboring Riverside County, Sheriff Chad Bianco told supervisors he wouldn't enforce local health orders that make criminals out of otherwise law-abiding business owners and other residents who violate the restrictions.

The state is allowing some counties with a low infection rate to give the greenlight to...