California city moves to padlock restaurant after cutting its electricity for defying COVID shutdown orders
The rift between the restaurant and Burbank comes as certain business sectors have partially reopened
Tinhorn Flats Saloon & Grill owner Baret Lepejian on choosing to stay open in defiance of coronavirus shutdown orders and how Burbank, California responded.
The City of Burbank said it is seeking court authorization to padlock the doors of a restaurant that has stayed open in defiance of city orders to shut down amid the COVID pandemic.
A city spokesperson told FOX Business that Burbank is seeking court authorization to padlock the doors until Tinhorn Flats Saloon & Grill “obtains all legally required permits to operate.”
Tinhorn Flats Saloon & Grill, located in Burbank, California. (Google maps)
The move comes after a Los Angeles County judge on Friday authorized the city to cut off electricity to the restaurant, following a superior court’s issuing of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), requiring the restaurant not to stay open without a permit.
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The restaurant ignored the order, and at 9:15 a.m. on Saturday, the city cut off the electricity. The restaurant stayed defiant, running a generator, opened for business, and continued to defy court orders, a city spokesperson told Fox News.
LOS ANGELES TO REOPEN INDOOR DINING, GYMS
A hearing was scheduled for Tuesday morning.
FOX Business has reached out to the owners of Tinhorn Flats Saloon seeking comment but did not hear back before publication.
The ongoing saga between the restaurant and the city comes as Los Angeles County partially reopened sectors of businesses that have been shuttered amid the pandemic. Beginning Monday, the county allowed in-restaurant dining, gym workout, and other indoor activities – but with some restrictions still in place.
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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti closed bars and restaurants last March and days later California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the nation’s first statewide shutdown. Grocery stores remained open, restaurants could offer takeout, but cinemas, fitness centers, hair and nail salons, amusement parks and scores of other types of businesses were closed.