Police cite KY Dollar General worker and customer for breaking social distance rules

A Dollar General employee and customer in Pike County were issued citations Monday night for failing to follow social distancing guidelines.

The citations, first reported by WYMT, were handed out by Elkhorn City Police Chief Bobby Sexton, who was doing a routine walk-through of the store Monday night when he noticed a couple standing close together.

The couple appeared to be in violation of executive orders issued in April by Pike County Judge-Executive Ray Jones and Gov. Andy Beshear that limit the number of people entering stores to one person per household.

Sexton said when he told the couple they were in violation of the order, the man claimed he had not heard of the social distancing regulation.

While talking with the couple, a store employee “became irate,” and told Sexton to stop harassing them. The employee then told Sexton “to go ahead and close the store.”

Police gave employees the option to put somebody outside to make sure people entering the store were following the county’s executive order, but employees declined to do so at that time, Sexton said. The store then closed.

On Tuesday afternoon, employees at the Dollar General location were standing outside the store and watching how many people entered at once. The employees declined to comment for this story.

“We have had several, several occasions where we have talked to the (Dollar General) district manager and manager and advised them of the violations of what they were doing,” Sexton said.

Store officials claimed the Elkhorn City location, one of about 20 stores in their district, was the only store having trouble with the police, Sexton said.

Sexton said other Pike County locations, those outside Elkhorn City and Pikeville, likely get less scrutiny from law enforcement or public health officials who have the authority to enforce social distancing regulations.

“I advised them ... that if you’re in this city and you’re not following (social distancing laws), then our police department is going to make sure you are following them,” he said. “We consider the health and safety of the community to be the highest priority.”

Sexton did not immediately provide a copy of the citations but said the two individuals will be scheduled to appear in Pike County District Court. He did not name the individuals.

Monday’s incident isn’t the first time local officials in Eastern Kentucky have acted in response to social distancing problems at a Dollar General location.

In Magoffin County, one of the few remaining Kentucky counties without a confirmed case of COVID-19, Judge-Executive Matt Wireman asked stores to limit the number of people who can be in a store at any given time and to institute one-way shopping aisles.

Wireman said Dollar General refused to follow those guidelines until he made them into a formal executive order, which was passed on April 5.

“After we had some frank discussions, they complied,” Wireman said. “I didn’t want to have to go that far and be heavy handed, but we’ve done it.”

Residents have been largely supportive of the measure, even refusing to visit stores in other counties with more lenient social distancing standards, Wireman said.

Dollar General’s corporate office did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 3:28 PM.