Posted on 01/23/2008 11:31:08 AM PST by HD1200
CLEARWATER - The 75-year-old grandmother who was arrested Thursday at a McDonald's on a charge of disorderly conduct gave an officer lip, according to a police report. Jean Merola swore at the officer and said, "You are an evil man. Your wife is going to divorce you. Your kids probably hate you too. You are going to hell," according to the report.
Officer Matthew Parco was behind Merola in line and had received his drink; he asked her to move up so he could get around her but she didn't respond. Parco spent about 20 minutes asking Merola to move the car before she was arrested.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Sheriff Andy Taylor taught us that just because there is a law doesn’t mean it has to be enforced. And there’s an obscure law covering just about everything. Someone said you could indict a ham sandwich, and I guess they can come up with an EXCUSE to arrest anyone. You either die or you get old and cranky. What’s your choice?
Twenty minutes to get an order of fries? No wonder she was in a bad mood.
Can’t really argue with the police report, Granny was a jerk but darn it I HATE BEING TOLD TO PULL FORWARD AT MCDONALDS, I obviously can feel her irritation.
Umm... 'tweren't me, FRiend.
Why would a cop go through a drive-thru and order only a drink? Or was he supposed to be pulling forward and waiting for a special order as well? Why didn’t the cop stop at a 7-11 or a Circle K and get out for a drink? Most cops and emergency personnel I’ve seen at fast food joints park where they can leave in a hurry. Drive-thru lines are not on my list of places easily left. There are usually curbs and/or walls in the way.
(just wondering. not that my question matters to the story of the cantankerous old lady and the impatient cop.)
I've got new for you, that was not my point.
We get training???
Sorry, I got confused when several other posters responded to a post.
In particular, the McDonald's manager.
ya got me...Clearwater has the rules...
I read the report and I understand that she did move, just not enough. Additionally the witness words her statement to play down the fact that she moved at all and leave the perception that she refused to move at all, something I don't like to see in said reports, as it indicates agenda.
Still, either way the consequences change depending on who had authority to direct her to park where she did.
I suspect the MD's staff are covering their rear in this if the drive was not a fire lane.
I thought your point was that the policeman's actions were OK, because the manager would likely have liked him to get the car to move.
Here's my point. The law should be enforced as equally and as consistently as possible. The absolute worst reason for enforcing the law selectively is to allow the enforcing agent to have greater power in his personal life.
At the age of 42, my life experience is that a police department would either ignore such a call from a store manager, or put it at the very bottom of their priority list, responding long after the problem had gone away of its own accord.
Although I no doubt would have been happy about the officer's intentions (if not his methods) if I was in line behind him, we should be unhappy with a society where we must share the personal interest of the enforcing agent to get a good outcome.
I will admit to being biased by my personal experiences, e.g. police who are disinterested in filing criminal charges or following up on property crimes, police who regularly pass me doing 15 mph over the speed limit in the same strip of road where they regularly set up a speed trap and give tickets for 5 mph over, police who have stood by while I've had to protect children from a raving loon threatening to kill them (and showed no interest in pursuing said loon), and it goes on.
Am I anti-police? I don't think so, I've also stood by on many occasions to assist an officer if they needed it, and I've helped subdue a suspect on one of those.
I just have high expectations of the police and incidents like this tend to highlight their deficiencies to me.
Basically that is partially true, my main point was that I was glad that I was not trapped behing this apparently stubborn lady who rightly or wrongly refused to comply with a policeman's request.
Here's my point. The law should be enforced as equally and as consistently as possible. The absolute worst reason for enforcing the law selectively is to allow the enforcing agent to have greater power in his personal life.
Here, I think you are reading WAY too much into what happened at that McDonald's. Way too much. And for me, the telling thing is that the McDonald's manager backs up the cop's story.
At the age of 42, my life experience is that a police department would either ignore such a call from a store manager, or put it at the very bottom of their priority list, responding long after the problem had gone away of its own accord.
I am age 55, and I see where you are trying to go with this that the cop acted simply out of his own personal convenice. Why is he not entitled to do so? I guess your point is that the cop, especially being a cop, should have just sat there until the lady decided she was ready to move her car. Even though apparently she had not moved up far enough as McDonald's had requested her to do so as to clear the lane for people behind her to be able to get their orders and thus to keep the drive up line moving as it is intended to be keep moving.
Although I no doubt would have been happy about the officer's intentions (if not his methods) if I was in line behind him, we should be unhappy with a society where we must share the personal interest of the enforcing agent to get a good outcome.
Wow, now you admit that you also would have been irriated by being blocked in, but that the cop I guess just because he is a cop had no such right to get irriated, in particular because he had the power, unlike the rest of us poor saps who might have been stuck behind the stubborn lady, to do somthing about the blockage?
I will admit to being biased by my personal experiences, e.g. police who are disinterested in filing criminal charges or following up on property crimes, police who regularly pass me doing 15 mph over the speed limit in the same strip of road where they regularly set up a speed trap and give tickets for 5 mph over, police who have stood by while I've had to protect children from a raving loon threatening to kill them (and showed no interest in pursuing said loon), and it goes on.
Wow, tell me more about the raving loon.
Am I anti-police? I don't think so, I've also stood by on many occasions to assist an officer if they needed it, and I've helped subdue a suspect on one of those.
I would say that you are anti-police.
I just have high expectations of the police and incidents like this tend to highlight their deficiencies to me.
I think most police are just like the rest of us, trying to make their way in life. Sure there are bad cops out there, but this cop was not a bad cop and was entitled to do what he did, and if I had been stuck behind this woman in line I would have been cheering him on......
Yes we would be angry.
But would we make an arrest?
THAT’s what this is all about.
My point is that cops shouldn't abuse their position. Doing something that they would not normally due, because they themselves benefit, is an abuse.
I suppose that you would like a doctor to provide you with the same level of care as they would to their own family? Would you consider it wrong if you got your broken arm triaged behind the doctor's buddy's blister?
I expect professional behavior and I've defined my idea of that rather well, if that makes me anti-cop in your view then oh well.
Wow, tell me more about the raving loon.
Homeless 40-50 year old man appearing to be on crack on top of an underlying mental disorder. He was beating on the windows of cars with 4-12 year old girls and their mothers (coming to a dance competition) and charging them when they were out of their cars. He was screaming that they were racists bitches and telling them that he was going to cut their throats and cut out their guts.
Two policemen were half a block away at the entrance to the competition and were looking down the street at the scene the whole time, which according to the people I knew at the entrance was quite clearly understandable to all. I had already put myself between the man and the girls and continued to block him from getting to other families. I called 911 on my phone while doing so. About five minutes after multiple women had run down to the police, one of the police officers finally walked down to where I was. The man saw the officer and started to walk away, he was about 50 feet away when the policeman finally walked up. The police reaction was an annoyed, "Nothing I can do." and he walked back to the entrance. I remained there to protect other families that were parking in that area.
Had that been the officer's little girls, I'm quite certain the guy would have been cuffed and Baker Acted. Which you would say is a good thing no doubt.
I just don't agree that what the cop did constituted abusing his position. As the saying goes around here at FR, we will just have to agree to disagree.
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