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Son and father arrested at McCully Shopping Center for violating COVID-19 quarantine

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Video by Cindy Ellen Russell and Craig T. Kojima
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                The truck belonging to the father was seen today at McCully Shopping Center.
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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM

The truck belonging to the father was seen today at McCully Shopping Center.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                The truck belonging to the father was seen today at McCully Shopping Center.

A teenager and his father violating the COVID-19 quarantine were arrested at the McCully Shopping Center this morning, the Honolulu Police Department confirmed.

The Department of Health confirmed that both the father and son tested positive for the virus and are now in isolation.

An HPD officer was on patrol near the shopping center and saw the teenager around 7:30 a.m.

“The teen’s father came to shopping center shortly thereafter, and both males were detained,” Michelle Yu, HPD’s spokeswoman, said in a statement. “At around noon, the two were transported to an Iwilei facility where they will be required to stay until their quarantine is completed.”

The shopping center was closed until 6 p.m. today for decontamination, according to its website.

McCully Shopping Center security guard Willie Faamasino said he saw the teenager, who he described as being 17 or 18 years old, sitting outside on the stairs at the shopping center.

“Yeah, he was kind of sick,” Faamasino said. “He was all weak and squeezing himself by the stairs. … The police went test him, and it came up positive. … The dad, too. They tested the dad, too, and it came up positive, too.”

Yu said they were supposed to be in quarantine. She said HPD does not do testing.

At the request of the police, Shayne Enright, spokeswoman for the city’s Emergency Services Department, said that paramedics arrived at McCully Shopping Center around 10 a.m. EMS does not do testing either, Enright said.

After evaluating the pair, paramedics transported them to city’s Iwilei facility for quarantining the homeless with COVID-19.

Yu said portions of the McCully Shopping Center parking lot were taped off and decontaminated by HPD personnel in personal protective equipment.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that the father and son were transported to a homeless shelter. They were transported to an Iwilei facility, according to the Honolulu Police Department.
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