Ball Had
Cranky old dear gets tired of kids’ ball landing in her yard. OK, these things happen. Cranky old dear takes ball, refuses to give it back, even when cops ask her repeatedly. Cranky old dear gets arrested. WKRC:
BLUE ASH — An elderly woman faces charges in a dispute with a neighbor over a football.
Police were called to the home of Edna Jester, 88, on Myrtle Avenue on Thursday, Oct. 16, around 6:30 p.m. Her neighbor, Paul Tanis, 40, told police his football landed in Jester’s yard. Tanis said Jester took the $15 football and refused to give it back.
Police asked Jester several times to return the football or face arrest. Jester told police she would not return the ball under any circumstances. Police then charged Jester with petty theft.
Officers said Jester than refused to sign the “notice to appear” document as required by law. Police said they were forced at that time to book Jester and take her to the police station.
Jester is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 12.
There’s gotta be something more to this. Did they mock the old dear? Bounce it off her wall repeatedly? Or is the cranky old dear just a cranky old bat? WCPO suggests there might be two sides to the story:
“I said go ahead and arrest me. Handcuff me if you’d like, because I said I’m not guilty of anything,” said Jester.
Thursday, Blue Ash Police arrested Jester for petty theft after taking her teenage neighbor’s football that was in her yard.
The incident was caught on tape by people across the street who support Jester.
“Taken down and interrogated, a (near) 90 year-old lady. It almost hits home like this is the United States, this can’t happen and this is absolutely ridiculous,” said neighbor Kevin Pike.
Kelly Tanis has five children and says Jester has taken balls from her children before. So she called the police.
“This time it was a ball that my son had just bought with his own money. He works and he makes his own money, and he bought that ball, and six days later she took it.”
Blue Ash Police say they didn’t want to arrest Jester. Instead, they just wanted her to give the ball back.
Jester says that wasn’t going to happen.
“I was giving it back sooner or later, but not right now so they could make a laughing stock out of me,” Jester said.
Neighbors say the issue of where the kids should and shouldn’t play has been ongoing for quite some time.
We’re all headed there, if we make it. What you gotta ask yourself is: Am I going to be a kindly old coot or a cranky old bat?
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:01 pm on Monday, October 20, 2008
6 Responses to “Ball Had”
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October 20th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Well, speaking as one who is very nearly there, I’ve had the same issue in my yard. I always pick up the ball (if I see it), and throw it back over the fence. I’d rather toss their ball back to them than have them climb over the fence to get it (thus, bending the chain link irreparably, and risking injury, which is then grounds for their parents to sue me).
At 88, Edna Jester may not be operating on all cylinders. Then again, she may have been harrassed repeatedly by neighborhood brats. It’s difficult to decide. In any case, when it comes time for me to choose, I think I’ll go with crankly old bat, because with all the crap I’ve put up with over a lifetime, I’ve earned it.
October 21st, 2008 at 5:30 am
Cranky old bat teaching the young ones that keeping the ball in bounds is conducive to winning the game; and is less expensive.
Cheers
October 21st, 2008 at 9:10 am
Ah, Blue Ash. You have to understand what we’re dealing with. Think of an affluent suburb, in this case, one of Cincinnati. But it could easily be Lexington (Boston) or Chester (Philadelphia) or any of the other wealthy whitebread cities near large urban areas in America.
And think of a police force, flushed with operating funds, state of the art equipment, way too many officers, and with little to do other than direct traffic at the public schools. If someone does anything that approaches a violation of some law, whether felony, misdemeanor, or simply a city ordinance, the Blue Ash police will be on that person like white on rice. Think of a police force with maybe one Andy Griffith and 50 Barney Fifes.
How do I know this? Well …. I once was stopped by the Blue Ash police for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. The Barney Fife wannabe did a check on me and found an allegedgly unpaid speeding ticket. (For the record, I paid that sucker, but stupidly in cash at the City of Cincinnati window. They gave me a receipt but I couldn’t find it).
While I waiting in my car, they brought a second cruiser in and then ordered me out of my car. They ordered me to lean over my car and did a frisk. Apparently, my profile showed me as being a possibly menacing person. In short order, they drove me to police headquarters (a fairly nice luxurious place I must say) where I told to wait for a Cincinnati police officer. The latter was called to take me to the downtown jail to remedy the unpaid ticket.
The upside of this was that the latter was a very nice and cool African-American who gave me a “what for” when I asked him whether he was going to handcuff me. I replied “well, they did”. I might have added “goofballs” while looking in their direction. The Cincinnati officer then proceeded to help me pay (for the second time) my traffic ticket. He stopped his cruiser in downtown traffic (with overhead lights flashing, very cool), allowed me to take cash out of my ATM, and took me to the head of the line for people paying tickets. All in all, very nice treatment by Cincinnati. Crappy treatment by the Blue Ash police department.
Indeed, let me just say that the latter can collectively kiss my big white ass.
October 21st, 2008 at 9:16 am
Life’s far too short to get worked up over balls falling in your yard. I assume that’s even more the case when you’re 88.
I can’t imagine myself calling the police over something like this, though. Better to build the highest fence allowed by law on that side of the property, then tell the kids that if the ball goes over, they might lose it. If they want it back, they have to go knock on her door, apologize, and ask politely if they can have it back. Life’s too short to be fighting with cranky old ladies, too.
October 22nd, 2008 at 7:02 pm
They charge her with theft, she should charge criminal and civil trespass.
July 22nd, 2009 at 2:57 am
[...] leaving toys on her property, so she refused to return a $15 football that landed in her yard. As Jules Crittenden eloquently explained, she ended up arrested for petty theft: “Cranky old dear gets tried [...]