Grandmother arrested for playing it safe

[Wolfie]

Souce: Inside Edition

 

Nurse Karen: Under Arrest

Sept 14th, 2006

 

It was a night that Karen Jerome, a 62-year-old nurse and grandmother of three, will never forget. She had just finished working the night shift at a hospital near Tyler, Texas and was on her way home - a mere ten-minute drive.

 

Late at night, the rural country roads of Tyler are pitch black. Barely a light can be seen on the road, and there are no stores around.

 

Karen became suspicious of a car driving behind her. Then all of a sudden, she saw flashing lights and heard a siren. "I'm thinking this can't be happening," Karen said. "I've done nothing wrong, I'm scared to death that whoever is behind me is either a rogue cop or a bogus cop."

 

She said she had seen stories of bogus cops raping and killing women during traffic stops. So she remembered advice she had heard. Slow down and pull into a safe, populated, well-lit area. But Karen knew the closest safe spot was actually her home, about 6 miles away.

 

When Karen arrived home, she honked her horn for her husband to come out.

 

This is when Karen's troubles really began. And it was all captured on the police dashboard camera.

 

As it turns out, Karen was pulled over by a real officer from the Texas Department of Public Safety. The officer ordered Karen out of the car, and was not interested in her explanation.

 

The officer could be heard on the dash cam saying, "I'm in a marked police car with red blue lights. I've been behind you with a siren for like six miles. You're under arrest!"

 

A sobbing Karen replied, "I was afraid you were not a real police officer." She then told her husband that she didn't stop because she was afraid they weren't real police officers.

 

Her husband Johnny Jerome, a 75-year-old physician, looked on helplessly.

 

Handcuffed, Karen was taken to the county jail and charged with evading arrest. Her mug shot and fingerprints were taken, and her name even appeared in the local paper.

 

But a few weeks later a grand jury decided not to indict her, and the charges were dropped.

 

The officers who arrested Karen would not talk to INSIDE EDITION. Mary Ann Viverette, the President of the International Association of Cheifs of Police, said the arresting officers followed proper police procedures, but she also thinks Karen was smart to follow her instincts in that situation.

 

Karen says she is just glad this nightmare is over. "You feel like the weight of the world has been taken off your shoulders, you just get down on your knees and thank God."

[Mystic Rose]

oh my poor woman to go through all that thank god the charges were dropped.