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French Fry Case Officer Quits

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 7, 2008

CLEARWATER - The Clearwater police officer who arrested a 76-year-old woman on charges she blocked the drive-through lane at a McDonald's was cleared of wrongdoing in that case, but later resigned while under investigation in an unrelated matter.

Officer Matthew Parco resigned May 20 after he and a police union representative looked at a case in which Parco was accused of acting inappropriately with a 15-year-old girl during a child custody dispute, according to police documents made available this week.
Parco was accused of firing his department-issue stun gun into his windshield as part of a demonstration for the girl, the documents state.

He also was accused of using the computer in his squad car to show the girl and her mother a video of a cow being shot with a stun gun, the documents state.

He also was accused of chewing tobacco in the girl's presence and offering her some, and of using his computer to retrieve information on her father and to pull up driver's license photographs, according to the documents.

Though Parco denied using the Taser, playing the cow video or looking up information or driver's license photographs on his computer, investigators with access to various databases were able to verify he had summoned some information on his computer, had fired his Taser and had played the cow video, the documents state.
Parco interacted with the girl after he was called to her home March 29. The girl and her mother were involved in an argument, and the girl's father showed up, the documents state.
Parco told the father to leave, the father told investigators, and the father did. Then Parco talked with the girl and the girl's mother inside the home before asking the girl to go outside with him, where, the girl told investigators, he chewed the tobacco, used his computer to retrieve the information, shot his stun gun and then showed her and her mother the cow video.

On Jan. 17, Jean Merola, then 75, was arrested by Parco after she refused to drive her Lincoln Town Car out of the drive-through lane at McDonald's at 1934 Hercules Ave. as she waited for a special french fry order. She was charged with obstructing a public way, which is a city ordinance, and is scheduled to go on trial in July.

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

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