Woman Arrested, Cuffed for Eating Candy

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=sto...dy_bar_arrest_1

 

WASHINGTON - A government scientist finishing a candy bar on her way into a subway station where eating is prohibited was arrested, handcuffed and detained for three hours by transit police.

 

 

 

Stephanie Willett said she was eating a PayDay bar on an escalator descending into a station July 16 when an officer warned her to finish it before entering the station. Both Willett and police agree that she nodded and put the last bit into her mouth before throwing the wrapper into a trash can.

 

 

Willett, a 45-year-old Environmental Protection Agency (news - web sites) scientist, told radio station WTOP that the officer then followed her into the station, one of several in downtown Washington.

 

 

"Don't you have some other crimes you have to take care of?" Willett said she told the officer.

 

 

Washington has been under heightened security because of the continuing threat of terrorism. And last week, police declared a citywide crime emergency over rising juvenile crime.

 

 

The transit police officer asked for Willett's identification, but Willett kept walking. She said she was then frisked and handcuffed.

 

 

"If she had stopped eating, it would have been the end of it and if she had just stopped for the issuance of a citation, she never would have been locked up," Transit Police Chief Polly Hanson said Thursday.

 

 

Metrorail has been criticized in the past for heavy-handed enforcement of the eating ban. In 2000, a police officer handcuffed a 12-year-old girl for eating a french fry on a subway platform.

 

 

In 2002, one of their officers ticketed a wheelchair-bound cerebral palsy patient for cursing when he was unable to find a working elevator to leave a station. Unflattering publicity eventually led the police to void the ticket.

 

 

Willett was the second person arrested this year for eating or drinking, Hanson said. In addition, police have issued 58 tickets and given more than 300 written warnings.

 

I feel so much safer, knowing that I can now correctly classify the terrorist threat level of this entire ordeal. Candy bars = code orange. Stupid shitty Mounds bars = code fucking RED.

[Guest netslob]

gee, cops throwing their weight around...who's surprised?

[DerangedHermit 0]

gee, cops throwing their weight around...who's surprised?

It's definitely not surprising where I live (Suffolk County, NY). The policemen are total shit, yet are among the highest-paid in the nation.

[Vyce 0]

All I have to say is, where were the D.C. metro police last week when I had to ride the Red Line with some long-haired hippie (it's really what he was - honest) who was eating what appeared to be some nauseating chicken & rice dish out of a tupperware container?

 

I nearly vomited.

 

If I could have gotten away with it, I would have stabbed out his eyes with his fork.

[Guest Nelly's Bandaid]

My theory on Suffolk Cops is someone spread a really bad and long lasting case of herpes back in 89 that's just been cycling ever since.

 

I feel so much safer knowing thanks to these men, a terrorist will never.....eat candy.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

Yeah,

 

Metro's pretty messed up. I ride it in every day. They're anal about the food, but don't mind when bicyclists ignore the rules and bring their bikes onboard the already crowded trains during rush hour,which of course block the exits. The way people behave around rush hour is ludicrious, im more worried about the random asshole pushing and shoving than a terrorist.

 

It doesn't suprise me. This from a subway system that has fires, can't run trains on time, and packs people in like sardines on the weekends with 2 car trams(they say theyve stopped that, ill believe it when i see it)

[Gert T 0]

"Don't you have some other crimes you have to take care of?" Willett said she told the officer.

Not something smart to say to the cops, regardless of whether they are making dumb arrests.

[2GOLD 0]

All I have to say is, where were the D.C. metro police last week when I had to ride the Red Line with some long-haired hippie (it's really what he was - honest) who was eating what appeared to be some nauseating chicken & rice dish out of a tupperware container?

 

I nearly vomited.

 

If I could have gotten away with it, I would have stabbed out his eyes with his fork.

 

Never heard of citizens arrest?

 

Next time, have a trash bag with you and capture them. Take them to the authorities and announce, "this person was EATING! Arrest them."

[Highland 0]

If I were to spill my coffee at the transit, would I get shot? I mean if they'd handcuff a 12 year old girl for eating a french fry......