Man ticketed for dropping money on the ground

A random act of kindness has landed a Cleveland man in trouble with police. Last Monday John Davis was exiting I-90 at the West 117th ramp when he saw a man in a wheelchair. The man was pale, thin and holding a sign that had a religious sentiment and also a request for help. John thought to himself, “I think we’re all to help the less fortunate.” The middle class family man from Elyria works hard for a living and enjoys giving back especially to people who are physically challenged.

“I have a brother that’s paralyzed,” said John, “My brother’s in that same situation and struggles.” John reached into his wallet and grabbed a couple of bucks to give to the man. As he approached the light at the exit, he rolled the money up vertically and stretched his arm out of his window. He says, the man touched the cash and one of the dollars fell to the ground. The man then bent over and picked it up.



Moments later as John travelled North on West 117th he says a Cleveland police officer pulled him over. “He proceeds to tell me he’s pulling me over for littering,” said John. John and his friends who witnessed the exchange were baffled. The ticket cited Section No: 613.06 of Cleveland’s Municipal Codes, which is littering from a motor vehicle.

His offence was listed as, “Throw paper out window,” and in parenthesis, “money to panhandler.” John said he was confused because money is paper but it’s not trash. John does plan to challenge the ticket in court, mainly because it carries a hefty fine. It could cost him $500 once you add the fine plus court costs. John says he has always had a deep admiration for Cleveland police, and he isn’t trying to start trouble, but that’s a lot of money for helping out someone less fortunate.

With news video.