Original Article September 16, 2005 New Orleans looter, 73, safely under lock and key By Sam Knight, Times Online, and agencies A 73-year-old diabetic grandmother and church elder was arrested for looting the day after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and has spent 16 days in jail because of a basket of suspicious food. Police in a suburb of New Orleans put Merlene Maten in handcuffs on August 30 after accusing her of taking $63.50 (35) in goods from a looted grocery. Even though she had no criminal record, Mrs Maten had her bail set at $50,000 was shipped off to a state penitentiary. Family and witnesses insist that Mrs Maten was the innocent victim of frustrated police officers, who were unable to catch any younger looters in the flooded streets of the city. Despite intervention from America's largest elderly campaign group, volunteer lawyers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a private lawyer, the family fought a futile battle for two weeks to get her freed. It was only after Mrs Maten's story was reported in American media that a judge ordered her release yesterday, setting up a reunion with her daughter, grandchildren and 80-year-old husband. "Im just gonna hug her and say Mom, Im so sorry this had to happen," Matens tearful daughter, Elois Short, told the Associated Press shortly after getting the news. Prison officials plan to release Mrs Maten this weekend but she must still face the looting charge at a court hearing in October. Mrs Maten, her family and several witnesses vigorously deny she did anything wrong. "There were people looting, but she wasnt one of them. Instead of chasing after people who were running, they grabbed the old lady who was walking," said Mrs Maten's daughter, a traffic warden in New Orleans. Daniel Becnel, Mrs Maten's lawyer, said police arrested the grandmother in a hotel car park as she took a piece of sausage out of her car. According to Mr Becnel, Mrs Maten had abandoned her flooded home and paid for a room at the hotel with a credit card before coming downstairs to collect some food for her and her husband. "Why would someone loot when they had a car with a refrigerator and had paid with a credit card at the hotel?" Mr Becnel asked. "The circumstances defy the theory of looting." Mr Becnel said Mrs Maten was arrested a block away from the looted shop where police say she was apprehended. The short police account of her arrest describes a more violent scene: "When officers arrived, the arrestee was observed leaving the scene with items from the store. The store window doors were observed smashed out, where entry to the store was made," the report said. Even the owner of the burgled shop does not want anyone prosecuted for the break-in: "Especially not a 70-year-old woman," said Christine Bishop, the owner of the Check In Check Out Deli. http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/news/ci_3037646 Accused looter, 73, out of jail Associated Press GRETNA, La. A 73-year-old woman who was jailed for more than two weeks after authorities accused her of looting was released Friday evening. Merlene Maten said the first thing she wanted to do was visit her 80-year-old husband. "I thank God this ordeal is over," she said after being released from the parish jail. "I did nothing wrong." Police arrested Maten the day after Hurricane Katrina on charges she took $63.50 in goods from a looted deli. Family and eyewitnesses insist she only had gone to her car to get some sausage to eat when officers cuffed her in frustration, unable to catch younger looters. Despite intervention from the nation's largest senior lobby, volunteer lawyers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and even a private attorney, the family fought a futile battle for 16 days to get her freed. After the media picked up the story, a local judge ordered her freed. Maten still must face the looting charge at a court hearing in October. But the family, armed with several witnesses, intends to prove she was wrongly arrested. Christine Bishop, the owner of the Check In Check Out deli, said that she was angry that looters had damaged her store, but that she would not want anyone charged with a crime if the person had simply tried to get food to survive. "Especially not a 70-year-old woman," Bishop said.