Foul-talking shopper stirs up a tempest at store in La Marque
Fire captain writes a ticket, tells woman to watch her mouth
By PEGGY O'HARE Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Aug. 13, 2008, 11:28PM


As Tropical Storm Edouard closed in on the Texas Gulf Coast last week, a storm of a different kind was brewing inside the sporting goods section of a Wal-Mart store in La Marque. It started with the F-word.

And now a 28-year-old single mother must go to court if she wants to fight a ticket for using profanity.

On Aug. 4, as local residents prepared for deteriorating weather conditions, Kathryn "Kristi" Fridge made a last-minute stop at the Wal-Mart at FM 1764 and Interstate 45 with her mother and 2-year-old daughter.

Finding the batteries shelf bare, she expressed her displeasure and disbelief to her mother.

"I was like, 'Dang.' I looked at my mom and said, 'They're all ----ing gone," Fridge recalled.

Suddenly, Capt. Alfred Decker, the La Marque assistant fire marshal, appeared from around the corner, dressed in a fire department uniform.

"He said, 'You need to watch your mouth,' " Fridge said.

Perplexed by who the man was — his badge said "fire department" — Fridge offered a scant apology.

"I was like, 'Oh, OK. Sorry?' " she said.

Fridge walked away, but said the man ordered her to come back. She then protested, telling him she was having a private conversation with her mother that was none of his business. When the man ordered her to come to him and she refused, she said he pulled out his handcuffs.


Chief defends the action
La Marque Fire Chief Todd Zacherl said Fridge made such a scene in the Wal-Mart that night, disrupting the peace, that Decker had no choice but to act.

"She cussed him, she cussed everybody. By now, we have a huge group of people looking," Zacherl said.

Fridge emphatically denied that, saying while she did curse in casual conversation with her mother, she never cursed at Decker, even during their confrontation. Her mother agreed.

"She never got nasty with him, she never cussed at him," said Fridge's mother, Kathryn Rice of Santa Fe.

Decker ordered Fridge to come out to his car because that's where his citation book was stored, Zacherl said. Fridge eventually complied, but admits she used the offending word again when she turned to a crowd of onlookers while being led outside and yelled, "Can you believe this? He's ----ing arresting me for saying ----!"

"When I got outside, I saw he was a fire marshal — I saw his car. I said, 'You're not even a cop!' He said, 'I can do this,' " Fridge said.

Decker asked for her name, and Fridge said she began to spell it out verbally and in sign language, which angered him. As their confrontation continued, he handcuffed her.

Zacherl said the assistant fire marshal did so for his own safety because Fridge was being belligerent and because he had to turn his back to get his ticket book and check on the radio if she had any arrest warrants.

Ultimately, Fridge was released and ticketed for disorderly conduct, a Class C misdemeanor. She can pay a fine or appear in court to contest the citation.

State law says the use of abusive, indecent, profane or vulgar language in a public place, which causes an "immediate breach of the peace," meets the definition of disorderly conduct.

Because the municipal court case is pending, Decker cannot comment on the matter, Zacherl said.

Three days later, Fridge went to the La Marque Fire Department to speak with the fire chief and was given forms to make a complaint. She hasn't made an official complaint, but says she will contact a lawyer before deciding whether to pursue one.

"I'm not out to sue or get money — I just want them to drop this ticket," Fridge said Wednesday. "Yes, I probably shouldn't have cussed in public, but he took it way too far."

Zacherl said the assistant fire marshal had no choice.

"When you're in uniform, you have to uphold the laws," the fire chief said. "It's like if he was on the way home and saw a drunk driver — he had to act."


Public reaction
Decker is certified by the state of Texas as firefighter, peace officer, fire investigator and fire inspector. His fire department uniform also says "investigator," Zacherl said.

Zacherl said he has received about 15 phone calls from people reacting to the incident. Several accused the assistant fire marshal of abusing his power, but most calls have been positive, Zacherl said.

"The rest (of the phone calls) are, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you,' " Zacherl said.

:rofl:

That is the most retarded and overtly biased piece of bullshit I've read in a while. It wasn't funny or enlightening at all. It just makes me sad that people still think that way.

I agree, rap isn't music.

You'd be just as biased and culturally depraved as the author, then. Learn to embrace foreign cultures. It will do you some good. :thumb:

I wouldn't use the term culturally depraved. I just really hate rap, and hip-hop. Even at the height of the style it still sounds like garbage. I find even Sugar Hill Gang impossible to enjoy.

And I hate generic emo music in all its forms, but I will at least grudgingly acknowledge it as music.

But rap and hip-hop spawned from an African-American counterculture that fomented in the eighties. It wasn't a bunch of guys that desperately wanted to make money, but people who used their vocal emissions to express themselves. Saying that it isn't music is self-deprecating and ignorant.

It's the Sun, it comes with the territory :D

I agree, 100%

Sugar Hill Gang? Lol.

Armed woman forces intruder to call 911
 

POINT MARION, Pennsylvania (AP) -- An 85-year-old woman boldly went for her gun and busted a would-be burglar inside her home, then forced him to call police while she kept him in her sights, police said.

"I just walked right on past him to the bedroom and got my gun," Leda Smith said.

Smith heard someone break into her home Sunday afternoon and grabbed the .22-caliber revolver she had been keeping by her bed since a neighbor's home was burglarized a few weeks ago.

"I said 'What are you doing in my house?' He just kept saying he didn't do it," Smith said.

After the 17-year-old boy called 911, Smith kept holding the gun on him until state police arrived at her home in Springhill Township, about 45 miles south of Pittsburgh.

The boy will be charged with attempted burglary and related offenses in juvenile court, Trooper Christian Lieberum said. He was not identified because of his age.

"It was exciting," Smith said. "I just hope I broke up the (burglary) ring because they have been hitting a lot of places around here."

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...014_tattoo.jpg

Vicky Jones says she is Westlife's biggest fan and has been to 300 concerts

An 'obsessed' Westlife fan has celebrated her 40th birthday by having a tattoo of the band across her shoulders.

Vicky Jones from Abercwmboi in the Cynon Valley underwent 16 hours under the needle having their four faces etched on.

Vicky, a mother of four, has seen 300 Westlife concerts and counts herself as their greatest fan.

She said: "My children reckon I'm crazy but the tattoos are fabulous.

"All my money goes on Westlife - about £4,000 a year. I must be their biggest fan."

Singers Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily and Kian Egan added their autographs two months ago. She then had them inked over onto her back, underneath their portraits.

Her daughter Stacey, 18, said: "I'm not that keen on Westlife at all. Mum's too obsessed if you ask me."

Vicky's husband Colin, 42, was also not a big fan. She admitted: "He can't abide Westlife but he doesn't say a lot."

Oh, for fuck's sake! :crazy:

Quite simply-that is a dumb bitch with more money than sense.

Pardon me for asking, but isn't 4,000 quid very little to live on? She must not have very much sense to begin with.

Holliston football player dies - BostonHerald.com

That was my neighbor and my greatest friend...we did everything together since he was four and he was always the good hearted guy and I was the unsocial *******...I am in such shock and grief right now.

Can anyone who has gone through this help me? Thanks.

I'm really sorry to hear that man, my condolences.

Tragic. Sorry for your loss Double X.

Like I look at it and it doesn't seem like him...just another person unrelated...

Remember the good times you had together and cherish them above all.

So sorry to hear about your loss man, he sounded like a real top dollar guy. Be strong bud.

BBC NEWS | UK | Women dice with death on M6

^ BBC link with story and censored video.



^ Uncensored.

That was on Motorway Cops last night. I could'nt believe some of the things that went on in that programme and the leniency with which this country deals with things these days.

That was the most unbelivable so far in this thread easily. I wish i had the strength to be run over and then be able to fight off a bunch of the police!
Quite right you are Lee, and it looks liek they dealt with it well. I'd have been tempted to scream obscenities back at her myself!

because they didnt just flat out put her down?

the report said that they werent sure if her behavior was due to the head injury she sustained is why they were 'gentle'

that sort of thing happens around here pretty frequently
people trying to run across the freeways
thinking theyre taking a shortcut

we hear about the ones that took the shortcut to their graves

They're idiots for not cuffing her right away.

i dont think id want to have to explain

to a jury

why i slapped handcuffs on an accident victim right after they were hit by a car since it would exacerbate any injuries and create new ones

it all happened so fast and was so surprising and shocking

even to me sitting here at my computer

i cant imagine what 'being there' was like

She never explained why she ran out in front of a lorry and refused any psychiatric tests. She endangered lives and wasted taxpayers money. She assaulted a police officer yet appeared completely coherent a few hours after the incident.

She recieved one day in jail for assaulting a police officer. Hmmm.

head injuries can make people do truly bizarre things

im sure thats why they didnt pursue it -- she would have gotten off anyway

refused psychiatric eval? in the US she wouldnt have had the choice -- she had already done exactly what you said (endangered lives, wasted tax payer money, assaulted a police officer) and would have been held for a certain amount of time (48 hours or something like that) just to undergo the eval

and they just let her go???

ok now i see where youre coming from about the leniency gripe

University of Gloucestershire investigates 'Nazi style initiation' - Times Online

About ten minutes away from where i live. There is a park right behind where I have played football a few times.

lol I was accepted there (it's not exactly Oxbridge), it seems the frat jock is a universal phenomenon

Worse stuff happens at the university I attend.

Delta Tau (DT) fraternity forces guys through a number of strange, if not grotesque obstacles, including an elephant walk and ipecac races (drink a bottle of syrup of ipecac and finish a case). It is rumored (although probably true) that the last initiation ceremony is to behead a dog.

PS if you don't know what an elephant walk is this DEFINITELY isn't the forum to discuss it.

No wonder students have no friggin' common sense....

it amazes me the lengths people will go to be accepted by morons

The fraternal community was never renowned for their intelligence but that sure is a stupid generalization to make.

No it's not. I have employed students for over three years and they can quote quantum physics all night long. Ask them to an operate a till and your fucked.

is that happening over there, too?

i think of it as the junior rocket scientist syndrome

some of these people couldn't find their a.s.s.holes with a 10 man working crew
especially if they are the supervisor

when did incompetence become the new 'ticket' to a decent job?

key-rap

On the opposite end is a bunch of zit-faced neckbeards complaining that even though they understand trigonomics nobody ever showed them how to run a till. I know, I've seen it first hand.

Swedish hockey game delayed by sex-toy shower


sounds good.