[Rb ver. 2.0]

IMO, IF the cop’s car was locked in behind hers and he received a dispatch call and she wouldn’t move, then it’s a valid charge.

Any other reason is false arrest.

[Abathar]

I doubt it was, he waited around until another car took her to jail for him so he must not have been in too much of a hurry.

[Just another Joe]

As a police officer he should have never pulled so close to a car that he was blocked in.
Heck, I'm not even a police officer and I know THAT.

[blackdog]

There is no such thing as false arrest. It’s a contradiction of terms.

[Turbopilot]

If that was the case, it must not have been a very important dispatch call, if the officer chose to ignore it and instead arrest and book a little old lady at a drive-thru.

[Ramius]

According to the video, she wasn’t in the drive-thru. She had pulled forward to someplace along a curb. A cop later came up and asked her to move because she couldn’t park there (it doesn’t say whether she was blocking traffic or what the exact reason was). She refused to move and got snippy with the cop. The cop asked for her license and registration, which she also refused.

~That~ is why she was arrested. It wasn’t for sitting in the drive-thru, it was for failing to show her license and registration when asked.

Maybe the cop should have just let it go, but nonetheless it’s a different situation than the story tries to present.

[tob2]

If that were the case and the officer needed to respond to a dispatch call, then the officer should have told the grandmother.

[wideawake]

Any other reason is false arrest.

(1) The McDonald's is private property.

(2) McDonald's staff therefore have a right to kick her off the property.

(3) If she refuses their invitation to leave, she is trespassing and liable to arrest, whether she is blocking a dispatched police vehicle or whether she is blocking my non-dispatched, non-police vehicle.

If granny doesn't like the drive-thru service, she can pull around to the parking lot and go inside and complain.

Otherwise, she needs to get some manners and get out of other people's way.

[Centurion2000]

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."

If the mayor of your town calls to personally apologize, I'd say you've got a case.

[Larry Lucido]

I agree 100%.

I have a feeling a LOT is missing from this story.

[JLS]

I agree. I was a lawful order under your circumstance. Other than that it was at most a request.