Real Change News | Arrested for being there

July 29, 2009
Vol: 16 No: 34

Just Heard

Arrested for being there

by: Cydney Gillis , Staff Reporter

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Willie Jones puts his all into selling Real Change, including doing a little dance of sorts with a fanned-out hand of papers at his downtown corner of Third Avenue and Columbia Street.

That’s where a Metro Transit officer arrested Jones on July 22 after he stepped into the crosswalk on Third to do his dance for a moment. The light was green, Jones says, and he stepped back before it turned red. But not before annoying a Metro Transit officer who was driving by and stopped to yell at him.

Jones was told that failure to complete a crossing is a ticketable offense. The officer drove off, but came back and asked Jones for ID. When he refused, the cuffs came out – over the objections of a passing customer of Jones’ who says the cop called her a “liberal” and told her to back off.

In his report, the officer says the reason he stopped is that Jones was nearly hit by a car making a “quick turn” from Columbia to Third. The driver’s failure to yield to a pedestrian doesn’t appear to be an issue, but Jones has been charged with disorderly conduct.

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Comments

I know Willie and see him almost everyday. I have never seen him behave in a disorderly manner. He’s always pleasant with a smile on his face. I’m thinking that the Transit Cop better brush up on the Seattle Municipal Code, because no where does it state that you have to complete a crossing. It’s too bad a real cop didn’t see what happened and didn’t cite the transit cop for being a public nuisance.

Is there anything we can do to help Willie?

Julie | submitted on 08/10/2009, 1:32pm

What a terrible manner for this transit officer to react. Looks like a great place to start a email program filling up the transit office with letters from those who care about this treatment of Willie.
I may be a few hundred miles away but willing to help in any way.
God Bless Willie!!

Scott
twitter @slcaspirations

Scott | submitted on 08/11/2009, 12:59pm

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