NYC man busted for breaking Hawaii’s quarantine rules


NYC man busted for breaking Hawaii's quarantine rules

On second thought, it may have been a bad idea to post those surfing selfies.

A Bronx man on vacation in Hawaii was arrested by agents with the  state attorney general’s office  Friday morning — and charged with violating the state’s strict rules that tourists observe a 14-day quarantine after arriving.

The givaway?

Officials say the tourist, Tarique Peters, 23, posted incriminating photos of himself sunning and carrying a surfboard around the beach on his Instagram account.

Peters landed in Honolulu on Monday and is accused of immediately venturing off to see the sights, according to an announcement from Gov. David Ige’s office.

“He allegedly left his hotel room the day he arrived and traveled many places using public transportation,” the news release scolded.

“Authorities became aware of his social media posts from citizens who saw posts of him — on the beach with a surfboard, sunbathing, and walking around Waikiki at night.”

Local sleuths realized he’d Instagrammed a selfie from Bryant Park just a week ago, pegged him for a new arrival and then ratted him out to authorities.

A picture on an Instagram account that appears to belong to Peters from two days ago tagged at “Honolulu – Waikiki Beach” shows him posing in front of the ocean holding a surfboard with the caption “#newchallenge surfing.”

Now his #newchallenge may be posting his $4,000 bail.

Agents from the Hawaii Attorney General Clare Connors’ office visited Peters’ hotel, where staff said they had seen him leave the premises on “numerous occasions” over the course of the week, according to the news release.

“We appreciate the assistance of local people who spot flagrant violations of our emergency rules on various social media sites and report them to the appropriate authorities,” Connors said in a statement.

Hawaii residents were apparently none too pleased with the New Yorker’s alleged rule flouting.

“Don’t come to Hawaii and break our laws,” one Instagram user replied to his surfing photo.

“You thought you were cute skipping out the 14 day mandatory quarantine and putting our residents in danger. Good for you.”

Hawaii’s strict rules have managed to keep their coronavirus stats low. As of Friday, Hawaii reported only a single new case of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total 638 cases and 17 deaths.

With Post Wire Services




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