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Witnesses Back Up Officer's Story In McDonald's Drive-Through Arrest

Special to TBO.com by TERRI BURKETT / Provided by CLEARWATER POLICE DEPARTMENT

Jean Merola is arrested at the McDonald's drive-through by Clearwater police officer Matthew Parco.

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 4, 2008

CLEARWATER — About the only person who believes a Clearwater police officer wrongly arrested 75-year-old Jean Merola at a McDonald's drive-through last month is Jean Merola.

According to a 30-page internal affairs file released today, Officer Matthew Parco was cleared of wrongdoing Friday by his supervisors.

"It just seemed like he was doing his job," witness Susan Grimm-Mastandrea told internal affairs investigators.

Jean Merola

On Jan. 17, Merola was at the McDonald's drive-through at 1934 Hercules Ave. N. when she asked for a special order of French fries without salt, which takes about 3 1/2 minutes to prepare, a manager told investigators. Merola was told to move her Lincoln Town Car off to the side and wait until a McDonald's employee brought her order.

Waiting behind her was Parco, who had ordered and received an iced coffee but could not leave because the Town Car blocked his way. Witnesses said he motioned her to drive out of the line. When she didn't, he got out of his squad car, walked up to the Lincoln and asked her verbally, the file documents state.

Their ensuing back-and-forth lasted 20 minutes, as more and more cars continued to be backed up in line and employees were forced to deliver orders to vehicles.

Parco told investigators Merola started yelling at him immediately, saying she was where she was supposed to be. With his hands folded in front of him, he let her yell for one to two minutes but when he started to speak, she interrupted him. Then she was given her special fries, but still refused to leave, witnesses and Parco told investigators.

"She was being rude," said Sarah Curtis, a McDonald's manager, "saying, you know, she's prominent, she knows people. And saying that she's 75 years old and that she could die tomorrow and that the officer should be ashamed of himself." Parco said she also claimed to know Police Chief Sid Klein and demanded he come to the scene.

"He said [to Merola] that all he was trying to do was tell her to move up so that he could get on his way," Curtis said. "He never crossed the boundary of, like, using professional words to non-professional words."

Parco retrieved her driver's license and ran a computer check, mainly to see whether she had a history of mental illness, the file documents say. After none turned up, he gave her a piece of paper with his name, identification number and a telephone number on it so she could file a complaint against him if she wanted. Then he told her to leave.

She again demanded Klein at the scene, and called Parco a brat. She also told him if he had any wife or children, his wife was going to divorce him and his children hate him, Parco told internal affairs investigators. He again told her to leave and went back to his squad car.

Ashley Jones, another McDonald's employee, said she then saw Merloa get out of the Town Car, walk to Parco's squad car, and continue to yell at him. Jones remembered Parco saying, "I asked you to sit in your car and just leave."

He said he then told Merola four times – twice from inside his squad car, twice once he stepped outside it – that she just should leave. She again refused, saying she wanted Klein there. Parco said he noted the backup in the line and the danger employees were in delivering food in the growing traffic mess, so he decided to press charges against Merola.

Originally, Parco, who consulted with a supervisor, wanted to give Morela a notice to appear in court so he wouldn't have to take her into custody, but he was willing to do that only if he could contact one of her family members. Merola refused to give him any of their names or telephone numbers

He also considered taking her into custody under the state's Baker Act, to be held for psychiatric evaluation, but decided Merola qualified.

Merola did not cooperate in the internal affairs in investigation. The disorderly conduct charge Parco filed against her is still winding through the judicial system.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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