KHOU-11’s Jason Whitely reports that METRO undercover cops (we never thought we would actually use the term without derision!) actually busted a panhandler, and the guy was loaded (with cash):
[P]anhandlers, especially the aggressive ones, are hard to catch in the act like the one undercover officers ran across in downtown Houston Monday afternoon.
“He asked the lady for money and she refused,” said METRO Police Capt. Mike Raney. “He continued the request for more money. The officer was standing just a few feet from the panhandler at the time.”
Police stepped in and questioned 42-year-old James Dillon but were not expecting what they were about to find on him.
When Dillon did not have any ID, plain clothes police officers searched him. Looking down in one pocket they found a wad of $1,700 in cash. Looking in the other pocket they found even more money and another citation for panhandling issued last month.
The homeless man’s cash added up to $3,426.78.
And he was caught asking for another quarter.
And here’s where it gets REALLY good:
Dillon told officers he had been saving his money but could not deposit it in a bank since he had no identification.
He got to keep the cash but was written a new ticket for panhandling.
We’re sure the city is going to collect on that one. And that the vagrant has learned his lesson and will stop pestering people downtown. Because that’s how things work in a place called Perfect.
Ever get the feeling you are living in a theater of the absurd?
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