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.
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32 comments Add your comment
DLink
May 23rd, 2012
5:16 pm
I’d have to get unpleasant to say what needs to be said. As long as somebody tosses drifters money, they’ll stop drifting. What happens when every store has someone outside of it asking for money? It gets old fast.
Every expressway off ramp, someone banging on the window asking for money. Quick Trip has a policy of running anybody asking for money off the property for a reason. Got hit up by all of them today in DeKalb County. Ohio apparently had enough of its fair share to make a law. If it’s against the law, it’s usually a problem. That the officer wasn’t trained to explain the correct law and reason for it is also a problem. Give to charities people, don’t feed the scammers.
Disavowed
May 23rd, 2012
5:19 pm
The cops exist to serve and protect…….the rich! As a common citizen you are nothing to the government but a “Cash Cow” to be milked at every opportunity. I’m sure there are some “good cops” out there but most of them are bullies and control freaks.
PB
May 23rd, 2012
5:54 pm
There must be something more to this story. Otherwise it does not make sense, and the cop is indeed, like many on here have said, a jerk. Or a stupid person? Or maybe just having a bad day?
jennifer
May 23rd, 2012
6:15 pm
Urchin? Isn’t that a pretty derogatory term? I know the guy was begging, and probably making a nuisance of himself, but I’m uncomfortable with the idea of kicking people when they’re down.
Regardless of your degree of political correctness, this is just poor word choice. Isn’t the term generally reserved for children?
RCH
May 23rd, 2012
6:23 pm
PB
There probably is not anything else to this story. Reference the service dog at the fast food chicken restaurant who was ask to leave, the Gwinnett County commissioner who was arrested for DUI after passing TWO breathalyzers, or the couple kept in jail after proving that the house they were supposedly burglarizing belonged to them.
Power going to their head and not being held accountable
CASH POOR: This Man Faces A $500 Fine For Dropping $1 On The Ground | [Network9ja.Com]
May 24th, 2012
9:41 am
[...] Police officials refused to comment on the ticket, but one newspaper points out that 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” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. [...]
Mike Pascucci
May 24th, 2012
10:26 am
The law abiding citizen has become the revenue generating target for local law enforcement agencies. Get used to it. How else can government pay for the continuous expansion of the incredible “services” they provide?
Zamorianiqua
May 24th, 2012
11:27 am
“Another city ordinance states it is illegal to “transfer currency… to any person standing on a street or highway.”
That probably was the offense the officer meant to cite and simply put the wrong charge on the ticket.
Atlanta desperately needs a similar ordinance. And the Atlanta police need to start enforcing the aggressive panhandling law that’s already on the books.
Chris Somebody
May 24th, 2012
2:43 pm
So their ordinance says it’s “illegal to “transfer currency… to any person standing on a street or highway.” The guy in the wheelchair WASN’T standing. He was sitting. Case dismissed.
Old Uncle Dave
May 24th, 2012
11:06 pm
Shame on that pig. May a colony of lice take up residence in his nether regions.