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By East County News Service
File photo of treadmills via Bing
August 3, 2020 (Ramona) – The owner of the Ramona Fitness Center could face up to 30 months in jail or a $5,000 fine for allegedly staying open in violating of state and county public health orders.
According to a criminal complaint filed Friday by the San Diego County District Attorney, Peter San Nicolas committed the violations on June 2, 4 and 5 as well as on July 15 and 17. Each violation is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in jail or a $1,000 fine.
All gyms were ordered closed in mid-March. In mid-June, they were briefly allowed to reopen, then shut down again in mid-July for indoor activities.
Although five outbreaks in San Diego County of COVID-19 have been linked to gyms, none were tied to the Ramona Fitness Center, San Nicolas told the San Diego Union-Tribune. He said he had lost more than a quarter million dollars in the 85 days that he did stay closed initially.
He indicated that he sharply cut the number of customers in the fitness center and implemented a stringent sanitation regimen, also requiring face masks and social distancing.
“My mission statement is to help people’s health through fitness,” San Nicolas said. “I’m not trying to hurt people by being open — if people were getting sick here left and right, I wouldn’t want to be open.”
According to the facility’s Facebook page, at least some operations have recently moved outside, including outdoor yoga by candlelight. Some remote workout regimens have also been offered. But moving strenuous activities outdoors during summer heat could pose other health problems, the gym owner has pointed out.
San Nicolas purchased the gym at age 22, tore down the building and built an all new facility, fulfilling a dream he’d had since he was a 14-year-old bodybuilder. A former Mr. California, he’s been associated with the gym for over two decades.
He is scheduled for arraignment on December 1.
D.A. spokesperson Tanya Sierra, in a statement, indicated that the D.A.’s office works with law enforcement to first work with businesses and seek voluntary compliance, “We understand and sympathize with the significant hardship placed on businesses who are required to remain closed. But public health orders are in place to safeguard the health of everyone in our community amid this deadly pandemic,” she said, adding, “When the public health order is ignored and the law is broken, the public's health is at risk and we will file charges."
The County has forced shutdown of several other gyms violating health rules, but this is the first time that criminal charges have been filed against a gym owner.
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