Police in the US state of Alabama have arrested an 82-year-old woman over an outstanding trash bill.
Martha Louis Menefield said she was confused as officers handcuffed her and arrested her on Sunday.
The amount that led to her arrest was reportedly $77.80 (£63.28).
In a statement on Facebook, City of Valley police said they treated Ms Menefield respectfully and that they had notified her several times that she had not paid the bill for three months.
“Ms Menefield was treated respectfully by our officers in the performance of their duties and was released on a bond as prescribed by the violation,” said Mike Reynolds, police chief for the City of Valley in Alabama, in the statement, which has drawn significant criticism online.
People from Alabama and across the country denounced the police department in the comments section.
“Everybody who played a role in arresting this 82-year-old Valley, Alabama resident must be held accountable for their actions,” wrote Donald Watkins, a former attorney in the state, in one example.
“You’re not kidding?” she asked the officer. But when the police explained that he was indeed there to arrest her over an unpaid trash bill, Ms Menefield said, “I was upset because I didn’t know why they would come and arrest me.”
Once in handcuffs, one of the officers “kind of whispered it to me: ‘Don’t cry'”, she said. She recalled telling an officer: “How would you feel if they came and arrested your grandmama?”
Following her arrest, she was taken to the Valley police department and temporarily held before she was released on bond.
“I was in a little cage-like thing at the police station,” Ms Menefield told CBS News. “And I said, ‘Y’all put me in this cage? You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
Mr Reynolds did not immediately respond to BBC News’ request for comment.
In his Facebook statement, Mr Reynolds wrote that city officials had attempted to contact Ms Menefield about her trash bill multiple times.
He said that she had received a citation in August for the unpaid bills, and that the city’s code enforcement department “tried to call Ms Menefield several times and attempted to contact her in person at her residence.”
Officials left a notice on her door, Mr Reynolds said, providing contact information and an advisory that she was required to appear in court in September.
“A warrant for Failure to Pay Trash was issued when she did not appear in court,” Mr Reynolds said, adding that Ms Menefield also had her trash services suspended three times in the past two years.
Ms Menefield told CBS News that she did not know the bill in question had not been paid, and that she had never received a notice to appear in court.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
