COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The owners of the Capri Drive In in Coldwater are not going to be prosecuted locally after they opened two weeks ago in defiance of Governor Whitmer’s COVID-19 restrictions.
Branch County Prosecutor Val White says the Michigan Attorney General’s Office will have to decide if the matter will be pursued legally.
The Michigan State Police investigated after a half dozen calls were made to Branch County Central Dispatch on May 15 as the Capri opened for the 2020 season. The line of vehicles waiting to get in that night stretched from the Capri east along U.S. 12 and well past the Moose Lodge.
Capri owners Tom and Sue Magocs have promised to use social distancing guidelines and posted a complete list of rules to keep patrons safe on the drive in’s Facebook page. They asked on their marquee earlier this month for people to call the Governor’s office so they could open up. Their story gained statewide media attention and was picked up nationally by Fox News.
The Capri plans to show movies again this weekend but all theaters in Michigan can not open until at least June 12 under Governor Whitmer’s “Safer at Home” order.