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French Fry Stop Lands Grandma In Jail

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By CARLOS MONCADA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 20, 2008

CLEARWATER - If anyone was "lovin' it" at the McDonald's that Jean Merola visited Thursday evening, it certainly wasn't her.

The 75-year-old grandmother of eight was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct after she refused a police officer's orders to move her car while she waited for the coffee and fries she ordered at the drive-through window.

"Isn't that terrible?" she said from her Clearwater home Saturday. "Oh my goodness, here I am, a poor little innocent woman waiting for my french fries."
Merola had pulled her Lincoln Town Car to an area to which drive-up customers are directed if their orders will take some time; she had ordered her fries without salt.

While waiting, a Clearwater police officer pulled up behind her and started honking his horn, she said. He also was waving his arms, apparently signaling for her to move her car, she said.

It was not immediately clear why the officer was at the McDonald's, whose advertising campaign has an "I'm lovin' it" theme.

Arrest 'Uncalled For,' She Says

She stayed put, so Officer Matthew Parco, 30, got out, walked over to her car and asked for her license and registration. Words were exchanged and after a brief altercation, her hands were cuffed behind her back and she was put in the cruiser, according to Merola and an arrest affidavit.

Another officer arrived and took her to the Pinellas County Jail, where she was booked for misdemeanor disorderly conduct. Merola said she was searched, photographed and fingerprinted. She was released about 90 minutes later on her own recognizance, jail records show.

"My shoulder hurt me so bad that night," said Merola, who said she was just getting over pneumonia. "My shoulder and my arms and both of my hands were all swollen. When you're older you can't take that. And it was uncalled for."

The arrest affidavit states that Merola's car was blocking the drive-through lanes. Parco wrote that he asked her three times to move her car forward a foot to allow cars behind her to pass.

After refusing, Merola yelled at Parco for about 20 minutes, calling him a "brat" and swearing at him, according to the affidavit.

Merola, a widow and 43-year resident of Clearwater, made no apologies for her conduct. She said she could not move her car because a curb was in front of her. She denies she was blocking anyone.

"He's the one that blocked the traffic," she said, "because he parked there where he wasn't supposed to park."

As for swearing, "I got upset because he honked his horn at me," Merola said. "You know, it's only normal for you to get upset when somebody honks a horn at you when you're not doing anything."

Driver Says She Got An Apology
Merola said Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard called her Saturday morning to offer an apology.

"He says, "I am so sorry, Mrs. Merola, this should never have happened,'" she said.

Neither Hibbard nor Clearwater police were available Saturday to verify the call or whether the incident is under investigation.

The personnel at the jail also were sympathetic, Merola said. She didn't have to go into a cell with other inmates and didn't put on a jumpsuit, she said.

"They were very, very nice to me," she said. "When I was in there, they were just all shaking their heads. And I didn't get to eat my McDonald's, you know? So they gave me a sandwich. But I couldn't eat it."

Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.

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