There has been an arrest made in Alabama of a 82-year-old woman for not paying a trash bill of $77.80 that was due.
According to court records, the Valley woman was arrested Sunday for not paying the garbage service bill that covered the months of June, July, and August. As a result of her failure to pay solid waste fees, she was charged with a misdemeanor offense.
Social media outraged at the arrest of the elderly woman, claiming that the charges were a criminalization of debt. The arrest followed multiple attempts to collect the bill and a history of suspended service, according to a city official.
The city posted a statement about the arrest on Facebook on Tuesday. A door hanger was left at her home after code enforcement officers attempted to contact her several times. She was issued an arrest warrant for “Failure to Pay-Trash” after she failed to appear at a September court date.
Records show that she was arrested in 2006 for failing to pay a $206.54 trash bill. Later, court records indicate that the case was dismissed “upon compliance.”
In a statement, Valley Police Chief Mark Reynolds explained that officers were required to arrest her after a magistrate signed the warrant.
Reynolds shared that the woman “was treated respectfully by our officers in the performance of their duties and was released on a bond as prescribed by the violation.”