Homeless Woman Ticketed for Blocking Sidewalk
By: Michaela MacDonald
Updated: January 29, 2013
"It's my home," said Johnson.
Johnson says even though she does not hold a sign or bother local businesses, she's received multiple tickets for "blocking the sidewalk." Each ticket is $200--something she says she just can't pay.
"That is impossible if I do get money like that that I could get an apartment possibly," she said.
She says one of the officers who ticketed her verbally abused her and told her she should be a mental patient.
"I'm on the sidewalk yes and I'm not blocking it and even if I were, to write a ticket for something this petty shows what type of person that was," she said.
LPD says blocking the sidewalk is a Class B misdemeanor, but declined to comment on this case. Johnson says nearby businesses like Chick-Fil-A have been kind to her, so she doesn't believe it was them who called police.
"They also come out during the wintertime and make sure I have a hot drink or some soup and they even let me come inside and sit in the lobby and they tell me you need to come in and get warm," said Johnson
She says she is disputing all the tickets she's received... and her case will be heard February 8th.