A disorderly conduct charge brought by an assistant fire marshal against a woman who dropped the F-bomb at Wal-Mart has been dropped, the city’s interim manager said Wednesday.
When reached by phone, Kathryn Fridge, 29, of Texas City, said she was elated to hear the news and felt vindicated.
Alfred A. Decker IV, La Marque assistant fire marshal, cited Fridge on Aug. 4 when he overheard her utter the granddaddy of all expletives. Fridge, who was shopping for batteries with her mother and 2-year-old daughter ahead of Tropical Storm Edouard’s landfall, said “They don’t have any f------ more.”
Decker took Fridge to his car, handcuffed her and wrote her a citation. City Prosecutor Jay Brown dropped the charge March 19, said interim City Manager Eric Gage.
“After completion of his investigation to the facts of the case and existing case law, the state contends there is insufficient evidence to proceed and moves to dismiss,” said Gage, reading Brown’s comments on the decision.
Fridge said she felt like the matter tarnished her name.
“People only looked at his side of the story and didn’t understand what happened,” Fridge said.
Decker, who is a licensed peace officer and respected among his peers, couldn’t be reached for comment.
Fridge said she felt better, knowing she no longer has to worry about the ordeal of a trial.
“I wasn’t verbally attacking anyone,” Fridge said. “I didn’t start to flip out until he acted like he was going to arrest me for something I said in casual conversation between two adults.”
Fridge said she’s seen police deal with much filthier language on reality television shows, where officers remain stone faced despite a litany of obscenities.
“He flipped out about something that didn’t have anything to do with him,” Fridge said.
Galvaston County Daily News
When reached by phone, Kathryn Fridge, 29, of Texas City, said she was elated to hear the news and felt vindicated.
Alfred A. Decker IV, La Marque assistant fire marshal, cited Fridge on Aug. 4 when he overheard her utter the granddaddy of all expletives. Fridge, who was shopping for batteries with her mother and 2-year-old daughter ahead of Tropical Storm Edouard’s landfall, said “They don’t have any f------ more.”
Decker took Fridge to his car, handcuffed her and wrote her a citation. City Prosecutor Jay Brown dropped the charge March 19, said interim City Manager Eric Gage.
“After completion of his investigation to the facts of the case and existing case law, the state contends there is insufficient evidence to proceed and moves to dismiss,” said Gage, reading Brown’s comments on the decision.
Fridge said she felt like the matter tarnished her name.
“People only looked at his side of the story and didn’t understand what happened,” Fridge said.
Decker, who is a licensed peace officer and respected among his peers, couldn’t be reached for comment.
Fridge said she felt better, knowing she no longer has to worry about the ordeal of a trial.
“I wasn’t verbally attacking anyone,” Fridge said. “I didn’t start to flip out until he acted like he was going to arrest me for something I said in casual conversation between two adults.”
Fridge said she’s seen police deal with much filthier language on reality television shows, where officers remain stone faced despite a litany of obscenities.
“He flipped out about something that didn’t have anything to do with him,” Fridge said.
Galvaston County Daily News
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