75-year-old Jean Merola was arrested by Clearwater, Florida police after refusing to pull her car forward at a McDonald’s drive-thru, despite being ordered to do so by a police officer. She had ordered decaf coffee and “salt-free” french fries and was waiting for them.
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.
Merola says she was arrested after she refused to present identification and “cursed” at the officer when he radioed in to say she should be “taken to a mental hospital.” The officer’s supervisor later apologized.
Imagine waiting until 75 to start your life of crime. What a procrastinator.
Grandmother Arrested At McDonald’s Drive-Thru For Not Pulling Car Forward [Local 6 via BoingBoing] (Thanks, Everyone!)
More From Consumerist
-
Complaining About McDonald’s Food Is One Thing But Slapping Workers Is Just Rude
-
McDonald’s Drive-Thru Worker Spots Own Stolen Car Pulling Up To Window
-
McDonald’s Sees It Share Of Fast Food Fury This Week With Stolen Cars & French Fry Rage
-
Cops: Man Attacked His Stepdaughter Using McDonald’s French Fries As The Weapon
-
High Level Government Employee Or No, Walking Up To Drive-Thru Drunk Won't Fly At McDonald's
Uh-oh. This troublesome granny didn’t happen to have a hammer, did she?
what a cooky old lady. i mean it pisses me off to pull forward also, but i’ll reserve my energy for greater causes and just pull the damn car foward!
@snarkysnake: I dunno, perhaps she has dietary restrictions. I had a really awful kidney infection when I was in elementary school and was not allowed to eat any salt for several weeks. They will make salt-free fries for you; it just takes longer.
Ordering salt-free fries is a good way to get “fresh” fries – since basicly they cook a new batch, but when they are done – they simply do not put salt on them. (Same way that you can order a burger without pickles – or something else, so you know you get a “fresh” one)
Of course asking some teenage punk to make you a special order is sometimes asking for problems, but usually not.
I use to hate all the extra salt and ordered this way all the time. Salt does not bother me as much anymore, so I no longer order like this.
old people are funny when they are indignant.
@coan_net: Why the change of heart? The saturated fat just wasn’t bad enough, had to get all the sodium back too?
Only someone who has spent some time in Florida can really appreciate this story. I lived there for 12 years and I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that Florida is the worst place in America to drive.
You quickly learn to watch out for the Mercury Grand Marquis, Cadilacs and Town Cars. I firmly believe that elderly people are a more dangerous menace than drunk drivers. They have a spooky ability to cause accidents that they themselves are not involved in.
I once saw a Grand Marquis on its roof in an Arby’s parking lot with almost no damage. I have seen them driving the wrong way on the interstate multiple times, I have seen them floating in canals and driven through convenience store windows.
My company had a $200,000 car wash completely destroyed by a 78 year old woman in a town car who inexplicably took a sharp left turn in the middle of the wash and drove through the wall.
I once saw an elderly lady in ft myers pumping gas into a car whose left front wheel was completely on fire. Apparantly she had driven over a hundred miles on the interstate with one foot on the gas and one on the brake which caused the brakes to overheat. We had to call the police to keep her from driving the car (which now had no breaks and a flat tire) away.
Before I moved to Florida I had respect for older people. When they represent 40% of the population they become very hard to live with.
I don’t know, maybe it’s because I grew up among the trigger-happy LAPD, but when a cop tells me to move my ass, I MOVE MY ASS. Regardless of whatever I’m sitting around for, I don’t mess around when it comes to cops. Yeah s/he may be a penis and a half, but I’d rather grin and bear it than get a.) tasered, b.) smacked with a baton c.) thrown to the ground and taste the sidewalk, d.) arrested, or e.) all of the above.
@Szin: Yes, but you have to request it. The fries actually taste great when they’re not oversalted. And, when you request no-salt, it forces them to make a fresh batch.
So you get the freshest fries possible out of the deal, in addition to lower sodium. It just takes them an extra 2 minutes or so.
Tonight on FOX news: when assholes collide!
I despise police..but this woman is a true bitch in every sense of the word. Even after she got her food, she just sat around throwing a fit.
Old people really piss me off sometimes. I mean why should people be treaded diffrently just because they are old?
@PSN: kingpsyz: I’ve heard interviews with this lady and someone who knows the cop.
The lady’s story changed a few times in a couple of interviews with the same guy!
It should have been handled differently but I think there is more to the story.
And no, I’m not a cop. In fact, I don’t like them anymore than the next guy, but they do have a job to do and it isn’t an easy one.
@mgyqmb: I understand that some police are assholes, but please don’t hate all police officers. My father was a cop, was a good one, and did what he had to do protect the public. Sometimes it requires being an asshole, and sometimes it requires enforcing laws they don’t particularly want to, but it’s a dangerous job, and think of what it would be like without police.
You may have had a bad experience, but please don’t despise them.
@floyderdc:
Exactly, and of course the fact that she’s a grandmother makes her untouchable?
Grandmothers are a dime a dozen, especially in Florida.
@s0crates82: Maybe she asked for “SP Fries” and not “Salt Free fries”.
at least she wasnt tazed
This is a consumer issue b/c if you read the police report it was a McDonald’s employee who gave the statement making it vague whom exactly had the issue with the lady, the police or the business. I somewhat assume that this is private property.
@pylon83:
Generally the black letter law for stopping is the “Terry rule” [www.soc.umn.edu] :
If there is no probable cause, no warrant, and no consent then: If there is a reasonable suspicion that a crime is about to take place, officers can stop and ask questions, and if the answers do not dispel suspicion, then they can pat down the outer garments and “create” probable cause (usually if identifiable weapons).
Obviously though there is a lesser expectation of privacy in cars which is governed by probable cause and the ability of the police to seize and inventory the car.
Here though this is probably governed by state law and local ordinances [www.municode.com] . Clearwater I believe has adopted the Florida Uniform Traffic Control Law, and empowered their police via ” It is unlawful and a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083, for any person willfully to fail or refuse to comply with any lawful order or direction of any law enforcement officer, traffic crash investigation officer as described in s. 316.640, traffic infraction enforcement officer as described in s. 316.640, or member of the fire department at the scene of a fire, rescue operation, or other emergency.”
@DMDDallas:
You may want to:
1. Watch the Flexyourrights.org video entitled ” BUSTED: The Citizen’s Guide to Surviving Police Encounters” [www.youtube.com] and
2. Print out the ACLU’s “bust card” that details what you should do when you are stopped [www.joshdale.com]
They should answer your questions better. generally though keep in mind Courts recognize these levels of police-citizen contact: (a) community caretaking, or public safety – not a seizure and requires no legal justification; (b) limited, brief investigatory stop – justified if reasonable suspicion of criminal activity; and (c) an arrest – justified with warrant or when probable cause that a crime had occurred and person arrested was involved in the crime.
@PSN: kingpsyz: That’s not true, at least in this area. We have strict rules about getting comped anything (It probably happens occasionally…).
The truth is, cops are not usually able to eat at fast food restaurants for fear of “contamination” in their food. It’s a sad state of affairs that most FF workers are either incompetent or have had run-ins with the law.
I think (hope) that the idea of cops getting free stuff everywhere under threat of slow response time is a thing of the past. Does anyone else see this happening?
I remember a few years ago the McDonalds comercials were showing people sppeding through the drive-thru at like 50 miles an hour. Same with the radio adds.
At the same time, our McDonalds had 2 big rectangles painted on the ground. One was painted red with a big 1 and another painted blue marked 2.
They even had a sign saying “Parking for Drive-Trhu Customers Only!”
How about this. If you so slow, that you cant give me my food, I really think the last thing you need right now is for me to go park somewhere while you take more orders and continue to get more backed up. Retards!
@MarvinMar: You don’t have the first clue how a fast food place works, do you?
No, seriously. Just because one person orders something that has to be made fresh, or waits until they’re at the pickup window to change their order, doesn’t mean that the six people behind them in line can’t get their already made orders before they have a chance to get cold.
@FF_Mac: If you’re waiting in a drivethru line you KNOW you’re going to be trapped there until you get your order and leave — precisely BECAUSE idiots pull out of the drivethru line cutting off other traffic passing by, and also because pulling out of the line screws up the sequence for everyone behind you so that people get charged the wrong amount and/or given the wrong order, which leads to the restaurant getting in trouble for order mistakes.
If you don’t want to be trapped for a few minutes, why are you in the drivethru line? We’ll have to start adding disclaimers now to the menus or something for dolts like this guy who think they’re special.
I live in this neighborhood, and while the lady may have been a bit cranky, this is typical local cop behavior. Back in Ohio, police officers served because they legitimately wanted to protect the public. Here, they do it to enforce some kind of sick, twisted fetishes. It’s really crazy, and I’m not surprised a fatass cop went crazy on an old lady because he was stuck at the McDonald’s drive-thru.
Oh, and it’s up to the person at the window to direct a customer to a proper waiting area. If she wasn’t waiting in a place appropriate for the other customers, that’s on McDonald’s, not the old lady. I’ve driven past this McDonald’s and I can see how it might be a tight fit.
@NotATool: Well I’ve learned something new today. I haven’t eaten McDonald’s fries in something like 8 years. Good to see they can reduce the Fry Salt.
@floydianslip6: too funny! i bursted out laughing and everyone in the office was looking at me wierd. hilarious.
@CatMoran: thank you for saying what needed to be said!
@bdgbill: Before I moved to Florida I had respect for older people. When they represent 40% of the population they become very hard to live with.
Truer words were never spoken.
@DanGarion: That was my thought too. This is a “Florida is a crazy state” issue. Nothing more.
@Curiosity: It was not a lawful order. The old gal was on PRIVATE PROPERTY negating his right to enforce most vehicle laws. Blocking traffic on PRIVATE PROPERTY is not traffic control issue. Besides it is a moot point because she was busted for disorderly conduct.
At least he didn’t tase her. That seems to be the most fashionable way for police officers to avoid “Protecting and Serving” citizens that dare to mouth off against ridiculous orders.
Seriously – I caught a few minutes of Cops the other day. Three people were tased at a traffic stop – one, the sober designated driver who was pleading for a cop to leave her drunk, non-violent and non-threatening boyfriend alone (he’d been riding in the passenger’s seat), two the boyfriend, who upon seeing his responsible and now hysterical girlfriend abused by the police, and finally, a bystander who saw all of this take place (he’d originally stuck around to give an eyewitness report of the accident) and who was taken aback at the police use of tasers on two people who didn’t become upset/combative until they were tased.
After all the eletrocuting was over, the cop said “we really hate to do this”. Right. And they hate to be patient enough to wait behind an old lady in the drive through, too.
@CaliforniaCajun: Yeah, if it were me – I’d have taken a different approach. Who needs to argue with some crazy old woman for 20 minutes when he could have just rammed her out of the way?
And they wonder why they call them pigs?
Anyone else think its hilarious that her occupation on the police report is listed as “Retured”?
@gretch9er: Hooked on Phonics worked for him.
I was always told by my mother when I growing up that Florida was the worst of the United States in one amoral, hateful package.
This really only proves that my mother’s right about something. Yes, old people can be a pain. They can also be awesome. Either way, this is clearly a bad cop overstepping his boundaries, and it’s very curious that they haven’t dropped the charges and launched a media blitz to cover their tracks.
Also, it’s furthermore curious that such a jerk as that cop still has a job “protecting” the public, but see the amoral and hateful part above. I guess they encourage that kind of crap in Pinellas County, eh?
Why didn’t this cop use his Taser on her?
After all, she’d be an easy target ya know…elderly, possibly frail, sitting in a car, obeying the request of employees on private property to wait for her food and apparently not bothering anybody else but the cop himself… all of the elements he could use as a pretext to fry her for waiting for her fries.
Did the cop overstep his authority? Who knows.
Was this woman at least being extremely rude? Definitely. Refusing to move forward by a foot to let someone (cop or not) get around you doesn’t make you a criminal, but does make you a jackass.
Why do I suspect that if the vehicle in front of the cop was a big-ass Hummer with an equally big-ass dude behind the wheel, the cop wouldn’t have been in such a big-ass hurry? Because he decided that a frail, white-haired woman would be easy to intimidate?
I can hate on cops with the best of ‘em, but unless you’re willing to believe that the entire police report was completely made up — including the witness statement from the manager, which was taken by a different officer — this lady deserved exactly what she got.
She blocked the drive-through exit (for EVERYONE, not just the cop);
She wouldn’t move her car to allow people through when one of the McDonald’s employees asked her to;
She wouldn’t move her car to allow people through when the cop subsequently asked/ordered her to;
She continued to refuse to move her car after she got her food;
At the time of her arrest she had the place so backed up that McDonald’s was having to walk peoples’ orders out to their cars and directing them through the other exit.
Even assuming all the stuff about her haranguing the cop is complete BS, this is still more than enough to justify a disorderly conduct arrest.
@coren: Both
@CaliforniaCajun: Exactly. People have been tasered for far less than what she pulled. And at her age a taser just might be lethal force.
You comply with cops to the best of your ability while lining up as many witnesses as possible, then let the lawyers do the fighting in court.
@LazloNibble: Yep it was all made up or at least told in a manner that heavily colors it to the cop’s side. If you notice the witness statement was NOT a witness statement but a narrative by the cop of what the witness “said”.
Now think about this. If she would have moved up a foot she would have now been the one not able to get out.
Where she was smart enough to stop her car far enough in front of the curb to allow her to navigate around the curb when it came time to leave, the cop was not smart enough to do the same so he had room to navigate around her car.
If the cop would not have been in such a rush to be “Mr. By God I am in charge” she would have recieved her food and been on her way.
The cop was and asshat and the old gal called him on it. Try a bit of respect to old ladies and you will be surprised how nice they can be. Be a shithead brat like this cop was and expect to hear about it.
@snarkysnake: Never worked in foodservice? Lots of people order fries without salt, as well as a lot of other things, too. If you have hypertension, you avoid salt.
Meanwhile, that cop’s lapse of judgment just got him a nice lawsuit. I hope he likes his new job making salt free fries.
Did y’all see the part where her hands and wrists were swollen and her arm ached all night? And old person can’t ride in a car with their arms pinned behind their backs, and go through the stress of the booking process (causing blood pressure and digestive problems), without significant bodily harm. Not saying we can’t ever arrest old people, but to have the same level of injuries, a young person would have to be really, criminally roughed up.
@pylon83: In that case, was she even operating a motor vehicle?
@EtherealStrife: Not in the article I read, it wasn’t clear who was saying that she said that at all.
@trollkiller:
There is an obvious difference between why the police thought they could order her around and whether they could – note the article “Merola, a widow and 43-year resident of Clearwater, made no apologies for her conduct. She said she could not move her car forward as the officer wanted because a curb was in front of her. She denies that she was blocking anyone.” So despite disorderly conduct – it is pretty clear why the police thought it was ok.
Private property, the conduct of the police, as well as other factors play into the right and wrongness of the police actions – you should not assume people who quote the law support the actions of the police at all times.
Here a misapplication of the law quoted above by the police as well as Mcdonald’s lack of actually asserting their rights as property holders for the consumer was the problem.
@PSN: kingpsyz:
Police do not get breaks or lunches. If they are on shift, they are responsible for every single call. That’s also why they don’t turn off cars unless they’re actually staking out a section of roadway.
The comp’d meal serves two purposes: It means you don’t have to bother with refunds if the officer jumps up and leaves before the food is ready, and it also means that they’re going to be a visible presence in your place of business. You’re getting what is essentially a security guard for the price of a few burgers a day.
@Curiosity:
There was a curb in front of her? At the drive through? Doesn’t that make it difficult to…. drive through?
Are they putting curbs in the middle of the street now, too?
@CaliforniaCajun:
That’s funny, I’ve never once seen a “reasonable person” pulled over and arrested on COPS.
What I do see is a lot of useless idiots who think it is OK to scream and yell at the cop after they’ve done something illegal, and a lot of stupid women who seem to be of the mind that it is perfectly OK to have men beat on them and that the cops trying to arrest the guy who just punched her in the face are much more evil.