82 year old woman arrested

[Wildcat Will]

Officers approached her in her front yard as she wondered why they were there. The asked who she was by name and if it was her.

After Menefield, 82, responded yes, she said the officer replied: “Well, Ms. Martha, I got to arrest you.”

Menefield said she couldn’t believe it. When she asked why, she was told a warrant had been issued for her arrest because of an unpaid trash bill.

The overdue amount: $77.80, the Associated Press reported.

Shortly after, the officer followed Menefield into her house while she got a sweater, then handcuffed her hands in front of her body. She was taken to the jail that services Valley, Ala., a city of roughly 10,000 people about an hour northeast of Montgomery.

The Valley resident of nearly three decades told The Washington Post that she was glad her grandkids, who stay at her house on some weekends, weren’t there to see her arrest on Nov. 27.

“I couldn’t too much believe what was going on, especially when he handcuffed me,” Menefield said. “That’s what scared me.”

The city posted an explanation for Menefield’s arrest on Facebook on Tuesday. In the days since, thousands of people have denounced the arrest, with some describing it in the comments as “shameful” and “pathetic.”