A Monterey County Superior Court judge ordered the electrical service to Aloha Coffee & Cafe be cut until owner Richard Dunnuck reapplies for and secures a health permit; Aloha's permit was revoked in December after inspectors found Dunnuck had repeatedly violated pandemic health orders by refusing to wear a mask or require his patrons to wear masks and maintain social distancing.
PG&E cut the power on Saturday, March 13, one day after Judge Marla Anderson issued the utility shutoff order for the Monterey cafe.
Dunnuck, who at a January court hearing stated that his status as a "living, breathing, natural-born citizen of this land" meant a judge couldn't order him to close and that the U.S. Constitution guaranteed him to remain open in a manner of his own choosing, remains defiant two days after the shut-off occurred.
Asked what he plans to do next, he responded: "I'm getting a generator."
And he says he plans to take legal action against the District Attorney's Office, the judge and Monterey County Superior Court, and is filing complaints with the State Bar Association and the state Attorney General's Office.
Aloha, he says, no longer exists and instead a private membership association (PMA) has taken its place.
"When the injunction first happened, a private membership association was formed at that time and it's in the private domain," Dunnuck says. "The guidelines are on the door and if you don't agree to the guidelines, you don't come in."
He calls Anderson's order "an act of treason" because the Supreme Court has recognized PMAs can exist.
"The order is unenforceable," Dunnuck claims. "They keep saying I need a health permit and that's like having to get a health permit for your home."
Anderson's order states that Aloha's conversion to a private membership club doesn't enable Dunnuck to avoid having a health permit, and that the gas and electrical service shut-off applies to the original Aloha Coffee & Cafe, as well as any successor businesses, including Aloha Coffee & Cafe Club.
In order for the utilities to be reinstated, Dunnuck has to apply to the court and prove he has secured a food service permit.