The Police Nab a Looter

Public defense blogger David Feige notes that the police did manage to catch one looter:

That’s Merlene Maten, who’s 73 years old.

My immediate thought was that the police must have picked her up because she was easier to catch than all the younger looters. Apparently, that’s what everyone else thinks, too:

Family and eyewitnesses insisted Maten was an innocent woman who had gone to her car to get some sausage to eat only to be mistakenly arrested by tired, frustrated white officers who couldn’t catch younger looters at a nearby store.

The fine for a minor theft in Lousiana is $500, yet for reasons known only to him—he hasn’t returned any calls from the media—the judge set her bail at $50,000.

Despite intervention from the nation’s largest senior lobby, volunteer lawyers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and even a private attorney, the family fought a futile battle for 16 days to get her freed.

Oh, did I mention that Merlene Maten is a deaconess at her church? Did I mention that she’s diabetic? Did I mention that her 80-year old husband was left stuck at a hotel until familys member could pick him up. Did I mention that the Deli owner doesn’t want to file charges?

Mind you, these are the undisputed facts. I’m not even getting into the question of whether she was actually looting. Her friends have a few things to say about that in the AP wire story here.

Update: Oops, I originally wrote that this happened in New Orleans, but it actually happend in the suburb of Kenner. I’ve edited this article to remove references to New Orleans.