Coffee shop defying mask order calls police on health inspector
MADISON - The owner of a Middleton coffee shop allegedly defying Dane County’s indoor mask order called police Wednesday after county health officials visited the shop, Middleton police say.
Helbachs Coffee in Middleton has taken heat in recent days after a photograph declaring the business a mask-free zone circulated on social media.
“This is a mask free zone. Please remove mask before entering,” a sign reportedly pinned to the door of the coffee shop on Monday said.
A Dane County order requiring face coverings in all indoor public spaces went into effect Monday. Businesses or groups of individuals who violate the mandate after a first warning can be fined $376 in Madison and $263.50 in the rest of the county.
Middleton Police Sgt. Terry Hanson said officers were called to Helbachs Wednesday because the owner “did not like what they were hearing from the Dane County health services.”
“He did not like what he was being told by the health inspector,” Hanson said. “He did not want them in his business, and it was explained to him that they have every right to be there.”
Madison Assistant City Attorney Marci Paulsen, who went into Helbachs with the Public Health Madison and Dane County inspector, said the owner was “not receptive” to requests to comply with public health orders.
“It didn’t go well,” Paulsen told the Journal Sentinel. “The owner wasn’t receptive to listening to us. He said we were harassing him and he contacted the police and asked them to come out because he felt we were harassing him.”
Paulsen said one of the two workers in the shop was wearing a mask. The owner was not wearing a mask. She added the sign was no longer on the shop’s door. A reporter’s call to the store was not returned. To date, public health officials have issued just three citations for violations of the county’s order.
Paulsen said Helbachs faces the possibility of citations and a potential suspension or revocation of its food and drink license. But she noted the county generally gives businesses the opportunity to voluntarily comply with the order.
A spokesperson for Public Health Madison and Dane County said they are working with city attorneys on next steps, “which could include revocation of (the coffee shop’s) food and drink license.”