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 ...
I’m not quite sure how one is to “step around” when one is sitting in a vehicle, blocked by the vehicle in front.
Ask them.
Tell them.
MAKE them.
It’s SOP and grandma shoulda thought of that before becoming a PTA.
They were all trapped, all two dozen of them or more I bet. How do you back up two dozen cars out of a drive through without having one or two of them at least telling the guy telling them to back up to TELL THE OLD LADY TO DRIVE FORWARD!!!
“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 went to talk to her when Merola yelled at him, according to the report.”
“Parco spent about 20 minutes asking Merola to move the car before she was arrested. Merola kept asking for the police chief and making a scene at the drive-through, according to the report.”
“In a separate statement to another officer, the McDonald’s manager gave an account similar to Parco’s, police reports show.”
So, let me get this straight. Some cranky old hag decides that she can single handedly stop the flow of traffic at McDonalds. In doing so, she also traps in a cop. He asks her to move, she curses him out for 20 minutes.
First of all, that IS disorderly conduct, which can be brought on private or public property. Secondly, he asked her to move for TWENTY minutes. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t sound like jack booted thug. That sounds like more patience than anyone on THIS thead would be willing to show.
I hope to God some day a crotchety old woman just parks her car in your driveway as you’re trying to go to work some morning. And then refuses to move when you ask her. Then tells you that your wife will divorce you, your kids hate you, and that you’re going to hell. And that she won’t move unless the police chief himself tells her to move. Because if you even breath wrong, that makes YOU a jackbooted thug. After all, she’s just showing “spirit”.
But cop bashing on this site is the norm, which is sad. It doesn’t matter how obvious it is that this old hag had it coming to her. It doesn’t matter that the McDonald’s manager agreed with the cop. You Cop Flamers only can see three words in the title...”Grandma”, “Arrested”, and “Officer”. Who cares about anything else, like reason and logic?
“She was blocking the drive-thru. Made a special order, which takes time. The employee asked her to move and her food would be brought to her. She refused. Damn rude at any age if you ask me.”
Not quite right, they asked her to move and she did. She pulled up as far as she could and could go no further. The cop thought she was parked illegally and decided to teach her a lesson.
Her son is a friend of the Mayor. The Mayor and police chief have called her to apologize.
Despite all this the City of Clearwater Florida wants you to know their police force is tourist and elderly friendly.
how do you know
that the cop car
was one inch behind her rear
bumper?
Ever been through a drive thru
in your
life?
She was well within her rights, and as a dignified human being does not wish to be pushed around. And I guess it killed everyone else to be inconvenienced for a few minutes. Honestly, I see the selfishness every day and that’s why I enjoy being a hermit.
I imagine the younger men posting on this thread are the same ones who are rude to me on a daily basis if I am perceived to be “in their way.”
Nice post, but get ready for the “cop was sittin at a donut hole and shouldn’t have been there” brigade to go after you!
Never mind the fact that cops get lunch and work breaks also.
Was that you going 30 MPH in the 70 MPH lane this morning?
just because wacdonalds told her to park there doesnt make it ok or legal.
that drive thru is not private property when used for public access. some people need to read up and their laws.
shes blocking the drive-thru. he gives her a command to move. shes says no. he was within his rights to arrest her.
only shame on his part is waiting 20 minutes.
just because a parking lot surrounds a business doesnt automatically make it private.
You don’t understand. Asking someone to move is emblematic of a police state.
And just leave their cars parked in the drive-thru lane?
I don't understand how anyone here is defending someone who blocked a drive-thru lane for 20 minutes.
“HTF would you know? What if that officer had been given an emergency call but couldn’t take it because the woman refused to move forward? Would that make you feel better knowing a FRIGGIN ORDER OF FRIES might have cost someone their life?”
What if the sky was falling?? What ifs don’t carry very far. When cops start arresting on WHAT IFS then we are truly lost as a society. There was no emergency call, there was no other call. He wasted a couple hours on a completely useless arrest.
If his time was so valuable he should not have been in the drive thru in the first place. He probably wasn’t supposed to be which was why he was upset in the first place. Afraid he was gonna get in trouble.
Cops deserve to be treated with respect. So does everyone else. Cops are not elite uber citizens.
No one was “trapped,” just too stupid to think of alternatives. Dumb, mean cop in my book.
The lady sounds like she is a few fries short of a Happy Meal.
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