Socrates Shawn, then an 18-year-old high school senior, was driving from his father’s house in Progreso Lakes, a small community just south of Progreso, to his mother’s place 24 miles away in McAllen. Shawn had to spend specific days of the week with each parent as part of their divorce decree, which applied until he finished high school. So when a Progreso police officer stopped him on April 8 for violating state orders, Shawn assumed he’d get a slap on the wrist. The Hidalgo County curfew wouldn’t start for two hours.
Instead, Shawn said the officer told him he was under arrest. The officer wrote that Shawn’s offense was a “Stay at Home Violation” on the report. “There was a ton of cars driving past and I was like, ‘Why didn't you pull them over?’” Shawn recalled. “He said, ‘Well, we're trying to pull everyone over. You guys shouldn't be driving.’” After about an hour and a half in a holding cell, Shawn said an officer told him he just had to pay $1,000 to be released, the maximum fine allowed for violating the order. He called his dad, who said in an interview with ProPublica and The Tribune that police told him he could pay with a money order that night.
Shawn was able to get out of jail without immediately paying the money, but he still owes the fine. Last he checked, it had gone up to $1,313 because, the city told him, he had missed a court date in June. However, Shawn said his court date was rescheduled multiple times, including after he took off work one day in June, only to learn the hearing was canceled. A collections agency recently contacted him, and he’s worried that a warrant could be issued for his arrest.
Progreso Police Chief Cesar Solis told ProPublica and the Tribune the money was a bond to ensure people showed up to pay the fines in court. He said officers had discretion whether to cite and release or detain people.
ProPublica and the Tribune interviewed two other people who, like Shawn, said they were told they would have to pay $1,000 for violating the stay-at-home order. One was picking up dinner. The second was a man heading to the grocery store with his 12-year-old son to pick up ingredients for the night’s carne dorada. In an interview, the man said an officer stopped him and assessed him $1,000 for violating the stay-home order and $160 because he doesn’t have a driver’s license.
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Originally Posted by Frank_B
