Northpinellas: Officer cleared in french fry flap

CLEARWATER - Clearwater police have cleared a police officer of accusations he acted inappropriately last month when he arrested a 75-year-old grandmother at a McDonald's drive-through.

The 30-page internal affairs report released Monday quotes a dozen witnesses, the overwhelming majority of whom said Officer Matthew Parco acted professionally while Jean Merola was rude and profane.

Merola was taken to the Pinellas County Jail in handcuffs on a charge of disorderly conduct, but the State Attorney's Office has yet to charge her formally.

Monday's report was the latest chapter in this fast-food saga, which started Jan. 17 when Merola ordered coffee and fries without salt at the drive-through window of a McDonald's on Hercules Avenue. Because the fries were a special order, the staff at the restaurant asked her to pull her Lincoln Town Car forward to an area of striped asphalt where customers wait for orders that take extra time.

Parco was behind Merola in his patrol car, having just picked up an iced coffee. He said he couldn't get past Merola and asked her to move up.

Parco claims Merola cursed at him, called him a "brat" and an "evil man," and even suggested that if he has children, they must hate him.

Merola told a different story. She said Parco honked at her, harassed her and refused to tell her what she had done wrong.

Almost all the witnesses interviewed sided with Parco, though one witness said the officer showed some "abrupt or rude" body language.

"She was being rude, saying, you know, she's prominent," said Sarah Curtiss, a McDonald's manager. "She knows people. And saying that ... the officer should be ashamed of himself."

Another witness, Terri Burkett, said she saw Merola upbraiding the officer. "She was very upset, and she was pointing - had her fingers up in his face and was really giving him a good scolding," said Burkett, who was in the drive-through line.

According to the report, Parco asked for Merola's driver's license in part to search police records for any history of mental illness. He told his supervisor that Merola appeared to have symptoms of dementia, which made Merola even angrier.

Parco and his supervisor, Cpl. Carl Conyers, considered giving Merola a notice to appear in court rather than arresting her, but they felt they couldn't safely release Merola unless there was a family member who could pick her up. Merola refused to give the names of any family members, the report said.

They also considered holding her under the state's Baker Act, but decided Merola did not meet the requirements, according to the report.

Merola's attorney, Steven Andrews, blamed Parco for violating "the code most people live by" when he honked in the drive-through line.

Andrews said Merola deserves an apology regardless of what the internal affairs report said.

"He may not have done anything wrong from an internal affairs standpoint, but we think the record is clear that there was no probable cause to arrest her," Andrews said.

He's also upset Clearwater police included information about Merola's time as a crossing guard in the report. It contains a brief note regarding Merola's resignation as a crossing guard in 1987 because she did not get transferred to the location she wanted. The paperwork said she should not be rehired.

"The fact that they had to go back to justify Parco's actions and pull her file when she was a school crossing guard is pathetic," Andrews said. "That says it all."

Last week, Andrews said, police Chief Sid Klein told him Merola's grandson was the subject of a criminal investigation for making threats against Parco. The grandson, 24-year-old Philip Merola, lives in Colorado. When he saw his grandmother's arrest on CNN, he called Parco's voice mail and left an angry message with his name and his phone number, Andrews said.

Klein and police spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts did not respond to requests for comment.

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Comments on this article

by Russ	02/06/08 06:02 PM
She refused a lawful order from an authorized law enforcement officer. She was arrested. DUH! Can't make it much simpler than that. Age doesn't matter. Location doesn't matter. She broke the law, now it matters.

by Rodger	02/05/08 08:28 PM
Noboy else is aloud to scold and get in a police officers face, what gives this women the right? Im sure if I tried that I would spend the night in the grey bar inn also. she positively has to be charged same as the rest of us would.

by SS	02/05/08 06:55 PM
Department talks to multiple people and all say the same-MEAN NASTY OLD LADY RUNNING HER YAP. Second her grandson from out of state threats Officer. Do any of you here see a pattern. This arrest was long over due. She got her 15 sec of shame NICE

by Jill	02/05/08 05:06 PM
Good reporting this time, listing all facts & background. I'm tried of older people (that shouldn't be driving) thinking they can be treated with kid gloves. The law is the law, abide by it!

by Tony	02/05/08 03:23 PM
Police officers have every right to question anyone in the act of doing their job. I find it funny that many of you have the "I can do the job better" attitude. Strap on the uniform and the badge and let's see how far YOU get.

by Mo	02/05/08 03:21 PM
Ok McDonalds has those lanes where they are not in the way. Apparently she wasn't parked correctly if he couldn't pass her. You mean to tell me none of you claiming it's all on the officer wouldn't have blown at her either if you couldn't get by?

by Gilbert	02/05/08 01:28 PM
This was an interesting piece until phonecalls started being made because her son works in City Hall. Wether the officer was right or wrong, her family connection issue pissed me off! Perhaps influential arrogance played a role in this!

by RJC	02/05/08 01:10 PM
"To Protect and Serve." Protect her from herself and he is mean and rude. Serve by refusing to be blocked in so he can respond to calls and he is abusing his power. She blocked him in and refused to move...End of story. Think about it!

by Russ	02/05/08 12:59 PM
When she kills someone because of her irrational behavior then the police will be at fault for not removing her. When the Officer cannot respond to an emergency because he is blocked in then he is at fault. Wake up, get the facts then comment.

by Mel	02/05/08 12:45 PM
Just because she is a "little old lady", doesn't mean she couldn't be mean and nasty. Take my mother-in-law for example....

by Jan	02/05/08 11:20 AM
John, you hit the nail in the head. The cops in Florida lie under oath and participate in the code of silence. These are federal offenses, but the agencies here back this kind of behavior. I think what happened in LA County needs to happen in FL.

by Janice	02/05/08 11:17 AM
We don't believe the police in this case, but it does make for good headlines. This cop doesn't need to be a cop, he's a bully of the elderly and his department backs it. Watch out old folks in Clearwater, they are after you now!!

by Sara	02/05/08 11:12 AM
No one ever likes the police until the day they need them.

by Ken	02/05/08 11:09 AM
the lady did as she was told by a representative of Mc Donalds and it was private property. the police officer had no right to question the lady, instead he should have questioned the employee. the lady only had to move if there had been an emergancy

by Pat	02/05/08 10:55 AM
what makes it ok for an elderly person to be so nasty. How many of you that blame the police be willing to do what they do and put up with nasty people. Just because she is old does not give her the right to behave that way, what about the 10 wittn

by Rally Round Parco	02/05/08 10:37 AM
All witnesses said the same thing. What should be noted, is that this unstable womans, nut case grandson called and made threats against the officer. All calls are recorded! I see a "ride" coming for the chap. Good job Parco! John, kiss off! ;)

by MJ	02/05/08 10:23 AM
I do not trust an officer with a gun to make life or death dessions that has this much trouble dealing with an old lady. What's going to happen when he has to deal with real crime???

by Dr_Dug	02/05/08 10:10 AM
Honking at the Lady was rude. And to point; if I got out of my car and told her to move, I'd get arrested for harrassing an elderly person.But since HE was in police uniform, he decided to use intimidation and handcuffs to solve his problem. FIRE HIM

by Dan	02/05/08 10:04 AM
I think the lesson learned here is that when a law enforcement officer asks you to do something, do it. If you don't agree, report it to his supervisor. We have to have respect for these officers, otherwise they would be ineffective.

by Tony	02/05/08 09:48 AM
too much publicity for such a minor infraction. Ticket her and go about the business of the day.

by Steve	02/05/08 09:25 AM
if anyone has had any experience with the Clearwater police, they would know that the officer was a jerk. They stop you, for almost nothing, then they try to provoke anger through derogatory comments, turning simple citations into multiple counts

by JAE	02/05/08 09:23 AM
It's not an either-or situation.They're both right: He's rude and she's nuts. And the media jumps in on both sides - first one, then the other, for our entertainment. Let's hope we all learned something.

by JJJ	02/05/08 09:03 AM
What is wrong with some of you people? Do you even read the story before you post anti police statements? The police department interviewed 12 different witnesses, all but one of which said the officer did everything correctly.

by a	02/05/08 08:59 AM
All of you people that think he did something wrong, did you read the story? All of the witnesses said that she was terrible. I don't blame him at all. If she was acting crazy, she should have been carted off. It doesn't matter who she is or "knows".

by Pete	02/05/08 08:58 AM
I side with the officer here. What more could he have done? His vehicle was boxed in, and he asked her to move. She refused, remained there, and berated him for about 20 minutes. It appears that her grandson inherited her friendly disposition!

by jeff	02/05/08 08:55 AM
Another case of incredibly poor judgement from a cop - to arrest an older woman at a McDonald's must have really made his day. When are we going to realize without checks and balances on cops they will continue to intimidate and harass us.

by JG	02/05/08 08:53 AM
By all means, let's take his badge--I wonder how he managed to convince every single witness to lie, too? Pretty impressive! The grandson is a nice touch. The family must be so proud.

by Gee	02/05/08 08:51 AM
As an average citizen ò013 Iò019m tired of these ò01Cseniorsò01D saying and do anything just because theyò019re ò01Colderò01D and feel that gives them the right. Good, Iò019m glad he was cleared. And I'm not that far from being a senior myself.

by Paul	02/05/08 08:42 AM
Witness is an 18 year manager...says more about Mcdonalds than anything else.

by Larry	02/05/08 08:36 AM
I think Granny is the one who needs to apologize to the officer. Being honked at or asked to move your car by a police officer is not cause to launch into a profane and insulting verbal abuse of the officer. She should be ashamed of herself.

by RJ	02/05/08 08:21 AM
There are always two sides to every story. I say the media owes this officer an apology for siding with this "poor old woman" during all the initial news casts.

by Lothar	02/05/08 06:52 AM
Of course the police department cleared Matthew of any wrong doing. Do you think they would actually pass judgement against one of their own?

by john	02/05/08 05:50 AM
As a retired law enforcement officer, I have seen many officers lie on their arrest reports and departments protect their men. I have also seen them lie under oath. His badge should be taken, this man is not stable. He is on a power trip.

Officer cleared in french fry flap

An internal affairs report cites witnesses who say woman, 75, was rude and profane.