Cop: Dropped charitable contribution equals littering

What most people consider litter. (AJC)

DeKalb County pedestrians’ hobby of choice, littering, works a lot differently in Ohio, where a man faces up to a $500 fine for dropping a $1 bill he was attempting to give a street urchin.

Motorist John Davis tells Cleveland’s Fox station that he was stopped in traffic and saw a man on the roadside in a wheelchair seeking charitable contributions. The man was even holding a “religious” sign, so clearly he was worth helping.

Davis, whose brother is also in a wheelchair, reached for his wallet.

He rolled down his window and handed the less fortunate Cleveland denizen two bucks, but one of the dollar bills fell to the ground. The man in the wheelchair picked up the dropped cash and Davis continued on his way until a Cleveland police officer pulled him over and wrote him a ticket for littering.

The ticket cites Davis for “Throw [sic] paper out window” and in parentheses, “money to panhandler,” Fox 8 reports.

Police officials refused comment on the ticket, but said Davis may have been cited incorrectly. Another city ordinance states it is illegal to “transfer currency… to any person standing on a street or highway.”

There’s no ordinance stopping Atlanta drivers from throwing money out a window, police tell me.

Fox 8 says the ticket has “destroyed [Davis'] joy.”

Don’t let the man get you down that easily.