We’ve all seen the meme of someone in the back of a police car, wondering why their Uber driver was so mean. We’ve even had a similar situation in Nashville once before, but nothing compares to 55-year-old Debra Herron, who was visiting CMA Fest this weekend.
According to an arrest warrant, Officer Charles Large pulled into the last west bound parking cut-out on Korean Veterans Blvd and parked his police flex vehicle, which has emergency lights in all windows that are described as ‘clearly visible’. As soon as he parked, Debra Herron, 55, opened the backdoor and climbed in.
Perhaps she didn’t notice that the back seat of the vehicle had been removed and was only a plastic shell for inmates, or perhaps she thought it was latest upgrades for late night Uber drivers to help with washing out the mess from riders. Perhaps she didn’t notice the back of the vehicle was essentially a steel cage separating the front from the back, and perhaps she thought the sliding window between the front and back compartments was like a limo.
At any rate, Herron climbed in and shut the door, locking herself in the police car. She told officer Large the address she wanted to go to and ask that he start the ride. Officer Large asked his new passenger if she knew where she was, to which she replied “yes, you’re my Uber”.
Officer Large reports that he could smell an extremely strong odor of alcohol coming from her, even with the sliding window between then closed. She said she had been “drinking a few”. Officer Large got out and went to the rear door where she was sitting, but states it was clear that if he allowed her to exit the vehicle she would have been a danger to herself, so he transported her to booking on a public intoxication charge.
Herron continued to ask the same questions repeatedly on the way to booking, and thought there was more than one officer there, but it was just Officer Large, who was preparing to catch her on every step she made into booking, as she seemed as if she was going to fall day the entire way. She was booked just before 8:30 PM on Sunday, allowed to sleep it off, and was released just after 5 AM on Monday. The Public Intox charge was dismissed.
