A Hawaiian Police Department recently posted to Facebook about a woman who was on the run for flouting coronavirus social distancing rules.
The Maui Police Department had resorted to Facebook to carry out a manhunt for a young woman who was suspected of breaching social distancing as local authorities scramble to prevent the further spread of the deadly coronavirus.
On the police department’s Facebook page, as they searched for the suspect, they wrote:
Police are requesting your assistance in locating Tara Trunfio. Trunfio is wanted for violating the Rules and Orders for failure to quarantine. Trunfio is described as a 24 year old, Caucasian female, height 5’11”, weight 155 lbs., with brown hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen in Haiku, and may now be in the Kihei area. Anyone with information is asked to please contact the Maui Police Department.
On May 16, the department issued an update to the original post notifying social media users that the social distancing fugitive was remanded in police custody, thanking them for their assistance.
The update read:
On May 16, 2020 at about 2:31 a.m., Tara Trunfio (23) of Colorado, was arrested for two (2) counts of Rules and Orders.
Investigation reveals that Trunfio arrived on Maui, acknowledged the Emergency Proclamations set forth by Governor David Ige and Mayor Michael Victorino with regards to the Traveler 14 Day Quarantine, however failed to comply.
The Maui Police Department went onto add:
An all-points bulletin was put out for her arrest, and posted to social media. There were over 300,000 people reached with the post and over 5,000 comments, some positive and some negative.
On May 16, 2020 at about 1:40 a.m., police were dispatched to a residence in Kula, regarding a female later identified as Trunfio, on the property refusing to leave.
Maui Police Department will continue to enforce the rules and orders set forth by the Governor of the State of Hawaii, Mayor of Maui County, and Hawaii Revised Statutes.
Trunfio’s bail is set at $4,000.00. She remains in police custody as of May 16, 2020 at 9:45 a.m.
The updated Facebook post, which has gone viral after being shared nearly 3,000 times, was not tremendously well-received by its 8,000+ commenters.
Most of the people who viewed the post voiced their disapproval of the measures taken by the Police Department.
The Police Department was compared to totalitarian mid-20th century political regimes.
Across the pond, in the UK, the police have come under immense fire after several different images have circulated social media showing potential overreach.
One man had his front door kicked in after reports that he was hosting a party–thereby breaching social distancing–had emerged. With a gung-ho attitude, the police, failing to wear any protective gear, cavalierly charged into the lone man’s apartment as he filmed them searching the premises for non-existent revelers.
During a confrontation with the police, a defiant but innocent man was threatened to have charges made up by police in order to bring him in. The video went viral on social media and the Police Department responsible was forced to suspend the officer in question and to issue a statement.
