Arizona Police Arrest Man For Having The Nerve To Open His Business

Gov. Doug Ducey had declared a public health emergency because of the coronavirus outbreak in March. Later that month, he issued a stay-at-home order, prohibiting any business not deemed essential from conducting in-person business.

But several people complained to the Winslow mayor when Authentic Indian Store, which primarily sold Native American jewelry, stayed open well into April, police said.

The body camera video shows police contacting the owner, 71-year-old Daniel J. Mazon, on April 11.

As soon as the officers walk in, Mazon starts recording them with his cell phone. When officers tell him he can’t stay open, Mazon argues that he is in compliance, saying he changed his license name to “Indian Department Store.”

He told officers he was now selling hay, paper towels, water and food, which officers noted were just candy bars.

“I get one or two people a day – corona bologna,” Mazon says as an officer looks at his store license.

Police said Mazon had been warned twice about keeping his store open, once by the Winslow mayor and once again by police, in the days before this incident. The officer says in the body camera video that these warnings came after the store license was issued on March 24.

Police asked Mazon for his driver’s license, but he refused.

“You don’t need my driver’s license. I’m not driving,” Mazon responds in the video.

Police then handcuff and detain him for failing to identify himself.