Authorities begin enforcing shelter in place order with fines up to $1,000

MARIN COUNTY, Calif. - Some Bay Area residents are learning the hard way - violating the stay at home order can be costly.

But it really depends on where you are in the Bay Area.

Different cities and counties are enforcing the orders in their own way.

At Sea Cliff beach in Santa Cruz County, a San Jose woman who wished to remain anonymous was cited Thursday after snapping a photo during what she called a "mental break" from the confines of home.

“A sheriff's officer pulled up and told us that he was going to give us a citation for breaking the shelter in place,” she said.

The citation she and her husband were given is for violating the shelter in place order, and could cost $1,000.

Saturday afternoon, the police chief of Santa Cruz fired off a tweet, showing seven Fremont men, each issued a $1,000 fine for entering the city to apparently have drinks.

State beaches in the county are currently closed and the threat of big dollar fines are keeping one local woman and her husband away. 

“I had heard it was a lot. I didn't realize it was that much and that's what I keep saying he's like ‘let's sneak down there,’ and I'm like ‘no, I heard it's a lot, so let's not.’ So, it's working, at least for us. It kept us away,” said Doreen O'Donovan of Aptos.    

“It's not safe to congregate at parks and compromise social distancing so what we've done is we've really upped staff, our enforcement effort and gotten more officers into the field,” said Gabe McKenna with California State Parks.

Drive north and you'll also find enforcement, but not as harsh.

On the road to Tennessee Valley Trail in Marin County, drivers were being turned around.

Only people on bikes or on foot are allowed in, others risk a $100 ticket.

In Tiburon, popular trails can be accessed on foot, but even locals who park are getting $45 tickets.

The discrepancy in crime and punishment vary depending on where you are and what you're doing in the Bay Area, leaving the woman who was cited in Santa Cruz County to suggest, if we're all in this together, we should all be treated the same.

“There wasn’t even a warning. There were no signs on the street. I feel like it was just really unfair and it's awful,” she said.

Violating the order is a violation of the Health and safety code. It’s a misdemeanor, and in addition to a fine ranging from $50 to $1,000, it carries a possible jail sentence of up to 90 days.