Mom cited for cursing in Wal-Mart ASSOCIATED PRESS
Houston Chronicle LA MARQUE —If all storms had a name, this one would start with the letter F.
As Tropical Storm Edouard closed in on the Texas Gulf Coast last week, a storm of a different kind was brewing inside the sporting goods section of a Wal-Mart store in La Marque. It started with the F-word. And now a 28-year-old single mother must go to court if she wants to fight a ticket for using profanity.
On Aug. 4, as local residents prepared for deteriorating weather conditions, Kathryn “Kristi” Fridge stopped at the Wal-Mart at FM 1764 and Interstate 45 near Houston with her mother and 2-year-old daughter.
Finding the batteries shelf bare, she expressed her displeasure and disbelief to her mother.
“I was like, 'Dang.' I looked at my mom and said, ‘They're all (expletive) gone,'” Fridge recalled.
Suddenly, Capt. Alfred Decker, the La Marque assistant fire marshal, appeared from around the corner, dressed in a fire department uniform.
“He said, ‘You need to watch your mouth,'” Fridge said.
Perplexed by who the man was — his badge said “fire department” — Fridge offered a scant apology.
Fridge walked away, but said the man ordered her to come back. She then protested, telling him she was having a private conversation with her mother. When the man ordered her to come to him and she refused, she said he pulled out his handcuffs.
La Marque Fire Chief Todd Zacherl said Fridge made such a scene in the Wal-Mart that Decker had no choice.
“She cussed him, she cussed everybody. By now, we have a huge group of people looking,” Zacherl said.
Fridge emphatically denied that, saying while she did curse in casual conversation with her mother, she never cursed at Decker.
“She never got nasty with him, she never cussed at him,” said Fridge's mother, Kathryn Rice of Santa Fe.
Decker ordered Fridge to come out to his car because that's where his citation book was stored, Zacherl said. Fridge eventually complied, but admits she used the offending word again when she turned to a crowd of onlookers and yelled, “Can you believe this? He's (expletive) arresting me for saying (expletive)!”
“When I got outside, I saw he was a fire marshal — I saw his car. I said, ‘You're not even a cop!' He said, ‘I can do this,'” Fridge said.
Zacherl said the assistant fire marshal handcuffed Fridge for his own safety because she was being belligerent and because he had to turn his back to get his ticket book and check on the radio if she had any arrest warrants.
Ultimately, Fridge was released and ticketed for disorderly conduct, a Class C misdemeanor. She can pay a fine or appear in court to contest the citation.
State law says the use of abusive, indecent, profane or vulgar language in a public place, which causes an “immediate breach of the peace,” meets the definition of disorderly conduct.
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