UPDATE: November 9, 2020, 12:00 p.m. EST
Maui Police Department confirmed that Andrew McLeod and Kadijah Wills were still in police custody as of 9:00 a.m. (HST), set to appear in court later in the day.
A New York couple was arrested in Maui on Thursday for violating Hawaii's COVID-19 quarantine regulations on out-of-state travelers.
The Aloha State has been extremely vigilant, in comparison with other states, about enforcing its interstate travel restrictions, as island hospitals and resources are limited, and Hawaii cannot risk importing new cases of the coronavirus.
According to Maui police, Andrew McLeod, 25, and Kadijah Wills, 26, arrived at the Kahului Airport on Wednesday, where they underwent screening and were instructed to proceed directly to the Lahaina resort they'd designated as their quarantine location to complete their mandatory, 14-day quarantine.
Shortly afterward, they were seen inside a Kahului grocery store, prompting officers to follow up with their Lahaina resort, which reported that the couple had not checked in. Police then phoned Wills, who said that they'd checked in at a Wailea resort, and then hung up.
Persistent in their tracing efforts, police contacted the Wailea resort, only to discover that the couple had been there, but had already checked out and were attempting to check in at another area resort.
Patrol officers tracked down Wills and McLeod at 4100 Wailea Alanui Drive, where they were detained until a Maui PD Quarantine Task Force Officer arrived to take over the investigation. The tourists were charged with six counts of rules and orders violations, including falsification to law enforcement.
Bail for the offending couple was then set at $14,000 each. At last report on Friday morning, they were still in police custody, and AP News wrote that it remained unclear whether they'd been assigned a public defender or retained alternate legal representation. TravelPulse has reached out to Maui PD for any further developments in their case.
The two New Yorkers are not the first interstate travelers to have been arrested for violating Hawaii's quarantine regulations, with hundreds of tourists already having been arrested for similar transgressions by mid-2020.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
