New Hampshire woman, 68, plans to sue the town after she was arrested because cops smelt alcohol on her breath while she was at HOME watching baseball – and claimed her filthy house was hazardous
- Colleen Loud, 68, had been sitting at home waiting for a baseball game to start when two officers appeared at her door investigating a crash
- After one of them said they could smell alcohol on her breathe, the two arrested Loud and claimed the filthy state of her mobile home was hazardous
- Now, Loud has said she has hired an attorney and plans to sue the town over what she calls a ‘wrongful arrest’
A woman plans to sue a small New Hampshire town after she was arrested in her own home last year by cops, who were investigating a crash that occurred nearby, because they said that they could could smell alcohol on her breath.
Colleen Loud, 68, had been sitting at her home in New Hampton eating a bowl of ice cream waiting for a Yankees game to start last October when officers knocked on her door and eventually took her into custody.
Police say that they arrested for being intoxicated with a breath alcohol test reading of just over .08, which is below the legal limit for driving, as well over concern for the condition of her home, in documents one officer accused her of being a ‘hoarder.
Loud later shot back in an interview saying: ‘My house is a mess, which is none of their business to be honest with you.’
Now, Loud has said she has hired an attorney and plans to sue the town over what she calls a wrongful arrest.
Sgt Asa Johnson, pictured here, is said to have told Loud he could smell alcohol on her after knocking on her door
Officer McCue had originally gone to the door of her mobile home and questioned Loud on the crash
Former North Hampton Police Chief Kathryn Mone stood down from her post following an investigation into the arrest of Loud
Officer Matt McCue had appeared at Loud’s door in October of last year and wanted to know if she had heard a car crash into the bushes outside her mobile home.
After telling McCue she had not, she closed the door on the officer and returned to watching her baseball game.
Following this, Sergeant Asa Johnson is said to have knocked on her door and claimed he could smell alcohol.
Loud told the Boston Globe that she had stopped by a local bar for a few beers after work prior to the officers appearing at her home.
Johnson made her take an alcohol test and found that her breath alcohol content was just over .08 percent, the legal limit for driving.
Loud told the newspaper she remembers Johnson saying: ‘We are taking you into police custody.
‘I’m sitting on my recliner waiting for a baseball game. The next minute you’re taking me into custody. What the hell.’
Loud claims they gave her two choices, call someone to take care of her, or go to the ‘drunk tank’ overnight.
They took her out of her home in handcuffs, and she spent the night in the Rockingham County Jail.
Loud said: ‘I feel like I was violated. My rights were violated. I was in my own home. I wasn’t staggering around.
‘I wasn’t falling down drunk. I was doing nothing but literally waiting for a baseball game to start on TV.’
The officers had appeared at Granite Post Green to investigate a car that had crashed into a bush
After the town launched an investigation into the incident a report was filed on the arrest.
In the reports, which have been obtained by the Boston Globe, McCue and Johnson said Loud’s home was filled with ‘mountains of trash’ and they took her in to protect her from it.
Loud told the newspaper: ‘My house is a mess, which is none of their business to be honest with you.’
Since the incident, Police Chief Kathryn Mone has retired and Sgt. Johnson has left the police force.
The town investigation is also said to found that after the arrest there was no training, change to policy or disciplinary action.
According to the report, Mone is alleged to have said she would rather ‘get sued for taking action than not taking action’.
