Texas Women Arrested in Sting Operation for Allegedly Running Salons out of Their Homes

Two women in Laredo, Texas are in some possible hot water after they were caught running salons out of their homes. The women were in violation of the city's Stay Home Work Safe order, which was put in place to help slow the spread of coronavirus. According to KGNS, it was a tip on the police department's mobile app that led to the two arrests.

After officers received tips on April 15 that the suspects were soliciting cosmetic services via social media, two undercover officers working on the COVID-19 Taskforce Enforcement made contact and set up appointments of their own. Not long after, police arrested 31-year-old Ana Isabel Castro-Garcia after allegedly agreeing to provide the officer with nail service. Brenda Stephany Mata, 20, was also arrested after she allegedly agreed to perform eyelash service for another officer. Both were charged with Violation of Emergency Management Plan C/B, which mandates non-essential businesses remain closed.

These two arrests are another in a long series of incidents that have occurred across the country since similar mandates were put in place by state and local governments. A man was arrested on April 19 after he attempted to break into Disney's California Park, which, like many businesses, was closed due to coronavirus.

On April 8, a woman in California arrested in a supermarket after going on what was described as a "licking spree." The woman allegedly took numerous pieces of jewelry and started licking them while loading her cart with other items off the shelves. When officers approached Walker, her cart totaled roughly $1,800. After it was determined she had no means to pay, and the items were no longer able to be sold, she was taken into custody.

The incidents even stretch back into March, like when Tampa, Florida-based Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne was taken into custody after turning himself in on March 30 for holding service in defiance of Hillsborough County's Stay-at-Home mandate. "They have access to technology allowing them to live stream their services over the internet and broadcast to their 400 members from the safety of their own homes, but instead they chose to gather at church," county Sheriff Chad Chronister told Fox 13. On March 26, a Pennsylvania woman was also arrested after allegedly coughing and spitting on more than $30,000 worth of produce.