Charges accusing a Winnebago Bar Owner of Violating a pandemic order enacted by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz have been dismissed. Instead, the owner has been found guilty of violating a City Ordinance.
A Winnebago Police Officer spotted owner David Schuster and three other men inside Shooters Bar during the evening of March 22, 2020, according to court documents. An order by Gov. Tim Walz closing bars due to the pandemic was in place that day.
Schuster told police he was having a private card game with friends.
The Faribault County Attorney’s Office initially charged Schuster with misdemeanor violating an emergency powers order. The prosecutor dropped that charge last week and instead tried Schuster for a petty misdemeanor violation of Winnebago’s Liquor Sales Ordinance.
Faribault County Judge Troy Timmerman found Schuster guilty of the petty misdemeanor last Friday, following a bench trial. Schuster did not have a city license for Sunday liquor sales and thus was not permitted to have anyone in his bar on that Sunday, according to Timmerman.
Schuster was ordered to pay $220 in fines, along with court fees.