Christian Peterson
reporter.riverbendnews@gmail.com
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, Officer K. Williams with the Live Oak Police Department (LOPD) was dispatched to the area of Silas Drive in response to a reckless driver and possible verbal disturbance. Williams first made contact with Deana Franklin, who explained she was in a verbal disagreement with another woman, 50-year-old resident Mary Franklin.
According to the arrest report filed by the LOPD, Deana explained that she had just been at a bar with Mary in Lake City, and stated the pair of them got into an argument over finding a place to stay. Deana claimed the two were too intoxicated to go home and wanted to find a hotel room; Mary disagreed and insisted on driving home. This started an argument between the two women. When the pair arrived at Mary’s residence, Deana left the vehicle, and law enforcement soon arrived. Deana clarified that all she wanted to do was get her belongings from Mary and leave. She reiterated that she and Mary had too much to drink and that the impairment was causing issues between them.
Williams then made contact with Mary, who was on her balcony, unclothed and exposing her breast. Williams told Mary to cover herself. However, her response was to yell at law enforcement and Deana. The request to cover herself was repeated multiple times to Mary who responded by saying that she did not have to because she was on her property. The officers explained that since she was on a balcony and in full view of the public, she was committing a crime by exposing herself indecently.
Despite this warning, Mary continued yelling at the officers and calling them derogatory names, as well as she did Deana. Mary then said she wanted the keys to her vehicle back from Deana, to which Deana responded that she did not have the keys. With her permission, law enforcement searched Deana's purse in an attempt to find the keys, but none were found. The continual yelling from Mary had caused a neighbor to open their door and had attracted the attention of multiple people walking by. Law enforcement continually advised Mary to stop yelling, to which she flatly refused, saying, “No.”
Mary was then warned that if she did not stop yelling and cover herself, she would be arrested. However, she refused. Officers then proceeded to make their way inside Mary’s home to arrest her. While being arrested, Mary stiffened her arms and attempted to pull away from the officers. She also attempted to hold onto the stairway rail as she was removed from her home. Eventually, Mary was put in the back of a patrol vehicle under arrest. She has been charged with resisting an officer without violence, disorderly intoxication and indecent exposure.