Homeless man arrested......

[Racket_Man]

after Police discovered him charging his cell phone at a public park. The officer called it "theft of city utilities in these bad times".

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article...=1&tc=pg&tc=ar

Since the man did not have the financial resrouces, he spent the night in jail and a judge threw out the charges.

[Nekojin]

Er... okay? Since the judge threw the case out, there's not much contention to deal with here.

The police officer was a little over-zealous, but that's all too common when they're dealing with homeless people. Everyone wants the homeless to go away, but nobody thinks about where they should go to. "Away" is good enough.

[Duelist925]

*facepalm* Seriously? "theft of public utilities"? Bloody jackass.

[RedRoseSpiral]

So instead of letting the man charge his phone, he's arrested, put in jail for a night, gets a public defender, and goes in front of a judge. So much for these tough economical times. That cop just wasted more of the tax payer's money than if he had just let the guy charge his phone.

[bara]

Everyone wants the homeless to go away, but nobody thinks about where they should go to.

I like golf courses. I think we should let them all stay on golf courses.

[Rapscallion]

Everyone wants the homeless to go away, but nobody thinks about where they should go to. "Away" is good enough.

Houses would be better.

Rapscallion

[lordlundar]

Still not helping your image Florida...

[bex1218]

BAH! Thats my city. I am not surprised, though.

Oh, even gets better. I read the comments and the first one I read is my "adoptive" redneck uncle.

[Seifer]

Um, doesn't the Homeless Man count as "The Public?" He's part of society. Therefore, his use of a public utility isn't "theft."

[TheHuckster]

Um, doesn't the Homeless Man count as "The Public?" He's part of society. Therefore, his use of a public utility isn't "theft."

Technically, it's theft in the same way as if you were to siphon gas from a state-owned vehicle or steal toilet paper from a public library's restroom.

But, in terms of the scope of things, this is about as innocuous as bottling tap water from a library sink or briefly using a wifi hotspot that belongs to the department of public works. It's a stupid thing to enforce regardless of whether it, on a very technical level, breaks the law or not.

[Seifer]

Technically, it's theft in the same way as if you were to siphon gas from a state-owned vehicle or steal toilet paper from a public library's restroom.

But, in terms of the scope of things, this is about as innocuous as bottling tap water from a library sink or briefly using a wifi hotspot that belongs to the department of public works. It's a stupid thing to enforce regardless of whether it, on a very technical level, breaks the law or not.

Siphoning gas and stealing toilet paper is NOT the same as using a public outlet. If it's an outlet that's there for the public (NOT for public officials - THE PUBLIC), then a homeless man using it to charge his cellphone is not stealing. It's using the outlet for its intended purpose.

[bex1218]

If its not for public use, then lock it. Charging a phone, probably not fancy one, won't take much power to charge.

[Panacea]

So instead of letting the man charge his phone, he's arrested, put in jail for a night, gets a public defender, and goes in front of a judge. So much for these tough economical times. That cop just wasted more of the tax payer's money than if he had just let the guy charge his phone.

Quoted for Truth. The cop just wanted to hassle the homeless guy. He wouldn't have done this to a "normal" person.

Houses would be better.

Rapscallion

It's not like there aren't enough empty ones that have been forclosed on.

But the real problem, often, is substance abuse and mental illness keeping these folks on the streets.

Um, doesn't the Homeless Man count as "The Public?"

Unfortunately, a lot of people like to forget this.