Police: Grandmother Arrested At McDonald's Drive-Thru For Not Pulling Car Forward

Local6.com ^ | 1/21/08

[Abathar]

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- A 75-year-old woman was arrested at a Clearwater McDonald's drive-thru, because police say she wouldn't pull her car forward.

Authorities said Jean Merola, a grandmother of eight, was arrested for disorderly conduct after she refused an officer's orders to move her car while she waited for the coffee and fries she ordered at the drive-through window.

Merola said the McDonald's employees told her to wait there for her food.

Merola was handcuffed behind her back and put in the cruiser.

Another officer arrived and took her to the Pinellas County Jail .

Merola said she was searched, photographed and fingerprinted.

Jail records show she was released about 90 minutes later on her own recognizance.

[sobieski]

Lack of respect is not an actionable offense, by any means.

[Beagle8U]

I don’t give a crap if she was a granny or not. I pay at the pay window and set at the pick-up window until I get what I paid for!

If you drive away you have no claim for not getting what you paid for!

[JLS]

That~ is why she was arrested. It wasn’t for sitting in the drive-thru, it was for failing to show her license and registration when asked.

And the officer had "reasonable suspicion" of WHAT that allowed him to ask her for her papers? In America you don't have to show you papers to the authorities unless they have a reason to ask you. In this case she was on private property and McDonald's has not suggested that she was doing anything other than what they asked her too.

The criminal in this case, yet again with a badge, came on private property and started ordering someone around who was apparently doing what she was instructed by the owner of the property. The authority of the state is quite limited on private property and even more limited if they are not invited in by the owners of said private property.

[CindyDawg]

We call it eccentric when young but senile when older. Kind of sad. I would rather see them as feisty fighters any day then depressed and withdrawn though.

[traditional1]

"A more appropriate action would have been to let the pissed-off people behind her deal with her."

LOL

My guess is she was in a MiniVan, as there's ALWAYS a line of cars behind them that they're holding up (usually in the high speed lane with the cruise control set at EXACTLY the speed limit, or less), for example.

LOL

[HD1200]

“See the 4th Ammendment. The police do not have the right to ask for these documents without just cause.”

Hmm. Swearing at a peace office, refusing a request to faciliate traffic flow, putting herself into a position to be interfering with an emergency call if the police officer gets a radio call (and YES COPS TO GET BREAKS and get to have coffee on the breaks), shall I go on?

This old battle axe should have just moved her car and been done with it, instead she made an ass out of herself.

[txlurker]

I am just wondering what your opinion would be if the cop, while on a break but still subject to call, would have been called to an emergency and STILL could not get his car out of the lane because of the bitchy old grandma, who was still calling him names, by the way?????

HD, is he the only cop in the city? If he was in line at a drive thru he obviously wasn't concerned about getting anywhere quickly. I think your "bitchy old grandma" comment says it all. You don't like old ladies. Or people who disapprove of arrogant cops.

[Emperor Palpatine]

Stubborn old broad???????

And what nursing home did you condemn your elderly ancestors to?

[A_Tradition_Continues]

Cops have a ways to get people out of their way during emergencies...IT'S CALLED LIGHTS & SIRENS. Face it, you have some punk smartass cop in a hurry to get thru the drive-thru in order to park his car somewhere and eat.

If drive-thru traffic is such as problem for him at MD's perhaps he should become a MD's drive-thru police.

[driftdiver]

“I am just wondering what your opinion would be if the cop, while on a break but still subject to call, would have been called to an emergency and STILL could not get his car out of the lane because of the bitchy old grandma, who was still calling him names, by the way?????”

Were his emergency lights on? Or was he just honking because he couldn’t get out? Those name calling things are really really really bad.

“Could the people that were injured because of her delaying the cop out of her own ornerynous, SUE HER ASS??”

If he let himself be that delayed by a old women then he’s the one that deserves to be sued. Not every moment of a cops time is spent saving lives. Much of it is spent sitting and waiting. Some is even spent learning how to be professional. The cops on this board all support another cop no matter what they do. Here’s a hint, those who demand respect seldom deserve any.

The Mayor apologized which pretty much says the cop screwed up.

[sobieski]

If Porky demands my papers, he’d better have a good reason. Just b/c he doesn’t want to wait - in a line he should not be in - ain’t good enough. Looking fwd to the rook flunking probation; should happen more often.

[Tax-chick]

I would rather see them as feisty fighters any day then depressed and withdrawn though.

If those are the only two choices, I have to agree.

[HD1200]

You didn’t answer my question: Could the people that were injured because of her delaying the cop out of her own ornerynous, SUE HER ASS??

[driftdiver]

“And what nursing home did you condemn your elderly ancestors to?”

Probably just plants drugs on them and lets the state take care of choosing the facility.

[HD1200]

ho hum, another guy that needs to read the article.

[rickomatic]

Interesting proposition. So if a cop asks somebody for their license and registration, people should just be able to say "no" if they don't feel like it, and expect the cop to just drive off?

If you are pulled over for a traffic violation then, yes, you must present the asked for documents. Other than that, you are under NO obligation to "show your papers". It's called probable cause for a reason.

[fireforeffect]

Remember you said this the next time you need one.

Granted, they are only minutes away when seconds count.

Most LEO’s are a product of the department where they work. If the department has an institutional attitude of respecting law abiding citizens, the LEO’s reflect this attitude or move on. If the department has the attitude that every one is a criminal who has not been caught yet, the same.

[Abathar]

LOL!

[sobieski]

Traffic: Public road, cops have jurisdiciton

MD drive through: private space, the business decides

Cops in line just have to wait until the business decides how to proceed.

[Emperor Palpatine]

Let me guess......you’re a cop, right?