Getting arrested by the U.S. Park Police turned out well for Thelma Billy, of Fairfax, who ended up yesterday with a $650 gift from the U.S. secretary of agriculture and a new stove.

Billy's adventure began Saturday as she served an early Thanksgiving dinner to homeless people in Dupont Circle. The suburban housewife cooks food for several hundred District homeless people each week. On Saturday, as usual, she drove over the curb at Dupont Circle and parked on the sidewalk.

When the officer asked for her driver's license, Billy discovered she had left her purse in the family's Suburban back in Fairfax. The officer handcuffed her, called a patrol car and loaded her for a trip to the station while her children watched, crying.