Wetumpka police arrested ‘cat girls’
Wetumpka Police cameras present Mary Alston, 60, and Beverly Roberts, 84, being arrested for trespassing on public land whereas feeding and arresting cats.
Montgomery Advertiser
Wetumpka, Ala. – Two ladies have been charged with a misdemeanor after tangling with police over a Feed the city’s stray cats had been discovered Guilty of four felony counts Tuesday.
Metropolis Decide Jeff Courtney sentenced Beverly Roberts, 85, and Mary Alston, 61, to 2 years in jail with out supervision and 10 days in jail. The jail sentence has been suspended. They had been additionally ordered to pay $100 in fines, along with court docket prices.
Roberts was discovered responsible of legal trespass and disorderly conduct. Alston was convicted of legal trespass and interference with authorities operations. The fees stemmed from the ladies’s therapy of the police after they refused to cease feeding the cats and go away the realm.
The ruling got here after a five-and-a-half-hour trial Tuesday in Elmore County. Protection legal professionals for the 2 ladies say they’ll attraction the decision. They’ve 14 days to take action.
Learn extra:Feeding cats on public domain lands Alabama “cat ladies” are in prison
The ladies had been recognized to native officers for feeding and catching town’s stray cats. Each paid to have the cats neutered and both adopted or returned to the realm the place they had been trapped. Their legal professionals argued throughout the proceedings that their efforts had been made to cut back the variety of stray cats.
The case has obtained nationwide consideration from animal rights teams who say the therapy of the ladies was disproportionately harsh given the circumstances.
On the morning of June 25, Alston was questioned by police whereas she was sitting in her automotive in an empty lot owned by Elmore County. Roberts arrives on the web site later.
Police advised Alston to go away the positioning, saying town didn’t need the cats to be fed to her. The 2 ladies level out that feeding cats on public property shouldn’t be unlawful, however a dispute with the police escalates. Each had been ultimately arrested and brought to the Elmore County Jail.
Throughout the proceedings, attorneys representing the 2 ladies, Terry Luck and William Shachy, argued that the trespassing expenses aren’t legitimate as a result of feeding stray cats shouldn’t be in opposition to the legislation in Wetumpka. Because the authentic cost should be deemed false, follow-up expenses of disorderly conduct and obstruction of presidency operations are unfounded.
Protection attorneys painted the ladies as animal lovers who reached into their pockets to fill a necessity, and exquisite girls who didn’t deserve the therapy they obtained.
The town’s police chief beforehand advised the Montgomery Advertiser, a part of the USA TODAY Community, that the ladies had been making a “nuisance” by feeding the cats, they usually may have simply prevented arrest just by following repeated instructions by the police to not feed the animals.
“Once you feed the cats, extra cats come to the realm,” Police Chief Greg Benton stated after the arrest. “If that they had heeded these repeated warnings, they might not have been arrested.”
Police stated the ladies had been repeatedly warned to not feed the cats and that they had been nonetheless doing so. Each are encroached from the realm.
Officer Jason Crompton testified that he “had no intention” of arresting the ladies. He stated the ladies gave him no selection after they didn’t observe directions and left the realm.
Physique cameras worn by the officers captured their interactions with the 2 ladies and their arrest.
Lack, who is without doubt one of the protection attorneys, stated the officers used “bodily abuse” when arresting the ladies and the incident ought to by no means have occurred. Each ladies complained of bruises on their arms and round their wrists throughout the arrest.
“There was completely no motive for any of this to occur,” Lack beforehand advised the Montgomery Advertiser. They had been feeding the cats (expletive). They had been trapping the cats to take them in to be fastened. Beverly and Mary had been already serving to the city. By spaying or neutering the cats, they had been serving to to regulate the feral cat inhabitants.”
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