DALLAS — Highland Park, a small, wealthy enclave surrounded by the city of Dallas, is tough on crime. And if you don’t believe it, check with Harriett “Dolly” Kelton.
Mrs. Kelton was arrested, handcuffed and hauled off to jail last week — an arrest that made Page One in the Dallas Morning News and was featured on every local television news broadcast. Even NBC-TV’s “Today” show covered it.
The crime? Failure to pay a traffic ticket.
Mrs. Kelton had been pulled over because officers noted her inspection sticker and registration had expired. Checking in the computer, they found that she had failed to pay a ticket involving registration.
Well, the outstanding warrant did it. There are no exceptions. Such an offender goes straight to jail in Highland Park.
“A warrant begins with the words, ’you are hereby commanded to arrest,’” police department spokesman Detective Randy Millican said.
Mrs. Kelton, a longtime teacher at the famed Hockaday School, is 97.
“How do you decide who you arrest and who you don’t? How about at age 90, but not at 91 and up? How about between 17 and 20? It’s an order from a court to make an arrest, so discretion goes out the window,” Detective Millican said.Two of Mrs. Kelton’s sons — one a judge and the other a well-known surgeon — questioned the arrest.
“Our real beef with this,” said Dr. Phil Kelton Jr., “is that no real judgment was displayed or carried out in this incident. There’s no question that they had a right to do what they did. My question is whether or not they should have.”
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