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Subway Rider Busted for Selling a Token
AP via ABC News ^ | Dec 9, 2005

Posted on 12/09/2005 11:08:23 AM PST by ml/nj

ATLANTA - Transit police handcuffed and cited a man who sold a $1.75 subway token to another rider who was having trouble with a token vending machine.

Transit authority spokeswoman Jocelyn Baker said Friday that the officer "acted within the law" after he spotted Donald Pirone, 42, selling the token Nov. 30 inside the West End subway station

Instead of giving Pirone a warning, the officer decided to handcuff him and give him the misdemeanor citation under a 1992 state law that bars passengers from selling Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority tokens, she said.

"What you've got to keep in mind is that fare abuse is a chronic problem," Baker said. "It costs MARTA millions of dollars every year."

Baker acknowledged that Pirone sold the token at face value and did not make a profit. But the law is the law, she said.

"There are customer service phones for people who are having trouble getting tokens out of the machine," Baker said. "The fact is, our officer acted within the law."

As for the handcuffs, Baker said the officer felt they were necessary.

"Our officers do that for their own safety," Baker said.

There was no answer Friday at a phone listed to a Donald V. Pirone in Atlanta. Pirone told WSB Radio that he was just trying to help a fellow passenger out who was having trouble with a token machine.

"I gave him a token and, I guess out of his generosity, he gave me the money for it," Pirone said. "But I didn't ask him for money."

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: atlanta; government; insanity; newworldorder; subway
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To: frogjerk; ml/nj
"The police become more out of control with each passing day."

I have to agree with ml/nj.
I have worked with rural police and sheriff departments
for the last 30 years as a communications supplier.
I have seen an shocking change in the attitude and quality
of new policemen over the last 10 years.
Many now like to have the swat team image, and seem to enjoy showing there power.
Slapping cuffs on someone seems to give them a big O.

At the most, this poor victim should have been issued something no worse then a parking ticket, but a warning that it was not legal for him to help someone would have been more then enough.

61 posted on 12/09/2005 12:41:05 PM PST by AlexW
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To: Glenn
Common sense is very, very dead.

Common sense: dead

Nanny state: Alive and kicking
62 posted on 12/09/2005 12:58:05 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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To: seowulf
Seems like they ought to be focusing on the corrupt government employees instead of their honest customers. I wonder if any Transit employees have been hauled away in handcuffs lately.

A lot of retail theft is from employees as well..
63 posted on 12/09/2005 1:03:12 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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To: frogjerk

7 Port Authority Police Officers and 23 NYPD officers died on 9/11 trying to save people's lives.



Don't make their deaths the justification for ignoring police abuse. They deserve better.


64 posted on 12/09/2005 1:16:04 PM PST by Atlas Sneezed (Your FRiendly FReeper Patent Attorney)
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To: Beelzebubba
Don't make their deaths the justification for ignoring police abuse. They deserve better.

Never did. Read my post again. I called the cop involved in this incident a jackass. I was merely defending the police that put their lives on the line everyday for people they don't even know.

65 posted on 12/09/2005 1:21:52 PM PST by frogjerk (LIBERALISM - Being miserable for no good reason)
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To: frogjerk
But to label all police as bad and dumb is irresponsible and just plain stupid on your part.

I posted the original article, and then the only comment I made on this thread previous to this, was the one to you where I said:

All of the people who are involded with this action should be fired
Notice I didn't say all police everywhere, or even all police in Atlanta.

It would appear that at least part of your screenname is well chosen.

ML/NJ

66 posted on 12/09/2005 1:43:14 PM PST by ml/nj
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To: ml/nj

Since you jumped into the conversation I didn't realize you weren't the the one who made the original dumb comment...for that I apologize.


67 posted on 12/09/2005 1:48:20 PM PST by frogjerk (LIBERALISM - Being miserable for no good reason)
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To: George_Bailey
We are watching the dawn of the US Police State.

Notice they did not release the name of the cop. These cops sure are not embarrassed to sign their name on the back of their publicly funded pay checks are they.

The sad thing is this cop is on his way to a publicly funded pension also.

I am sure we can rehire just as good people, not hard to get better than this fool, who aren't in a union, to do the job for less money.

Why lump them all together? Because they lumped themselves together when their union defends this goon.

68 posted on 12/09/2005 2:32:15 PM PST by Mark was here (How can they be called "Homeless" if their home is a field?.)
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To: windcliff
You better watch out
you better not sigh
you better not sell a token to another guy
or you'll get arrested real soon.

Maybe the guy should have dropped it {token} on the ground and said, Hey buddy is this yours?

69 posted on 12/09/2005 2:33:43 PM PST by I Drive Too Fast
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To: frogjerk
But to label all police as bad and dumb is irresponsible and just plain stupid on your part.

They lump themselves together with their union. Their union will defend this guy. They are about milking the public.

70 posted on 12/09/2005 2:36:39 PM PST by Mark was here (How can they be called "Homeless" if their home is a field?.)
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To: George from New England
Citizens around this country read this and WRITE-OFF visting your stupid a$$ Atlanta. You let your petty public servants ANTAGONIZE and HARASS the taxpayer and YOU WILL PAY. Maybe not in this life but definitely in the next one.

Get a clue...this is not an "Atlanta" problem but a government and police problem. Stories like this are posted daily here on FR about police harassing citizens. It happens in big cities and it happens in small cities.

Everyone else in this thread got the point. Police are no longer our friends. While many are nice people, too many are either incompetent or just bullies.

71 posted on 12/09/2005 3:08:52 PM PST by JeffAtlanta
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To: ml/nj

It's Friday, that must be what's affecting my sense of humor. Anyway, I guess subway tokens are the other thing that is illegal to sell but perfectly free to give away...


72 posted on 12/09/2005 3:22:11 PM PST by MikeD (We live in a world where babies are like velveteen rabbits that only become real if they are loved.)
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To: MikeD
Actually the perp said he just gave the token to the guy, and the guy just gave him the money for it. So he wasn't selling according to his story.

Actually I do something similar myself. It's illegal to resell (even at face) tickets someplace. I frequently have extra tickets for events because I usually buy more than I need to accomodate friends who might want to go (to the Belmont Stakes for example) but don't want to plan as far ahead as I might. So when I offer the tickets to strangers and they ask how much, I tell them they can just have the tickets and buy me a beer sometime if they feel like it. The only reason I want to "sell" the tickets is because I frequently go to events without tickets and I how I would feel if people just let the tickets go to waste like the pols want you to. (Last year I was someplace without tickets with a friend. I was able to purchase a pair and when I gave one of the tickets to my friend some affirmative action hire wanted to arrest me. I made it clear to her that she wouldn't have a job for long if she detained me.)

ML/NJ

73 posted on 12/09/2005 4:18:34 PM PST by ml/nj
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Comment #74 Removed by Moderator

To: Hildy

... goes unpunished.

Yup. thats fer sure.


75 posted on 12/09/2005 5:56:58 PM PST by festus (The constitution may be flawed but its a whole lot better than what we have now.)
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To: JeffAtlanta

Doesn't this start with the ridiculous law that made token selling illegal. That didn't come from the police but comes from elected idiots in office in Atlanta.

Yes, the police are harassing the public but the lawmakers gave them the tools. The country wide problem wouldn't go away overnight, but boycotts and awareness one city, one incident at a time is where I tend to start.


76 posted on 12/10/2005 6:42:31 AM PST by George from New England
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To: George from New England
Yes, the police are harassing the public but the lawmakers gave them the tools. The country wide problem wouldn't go away overnight, but boycotts and awareness one city, one incident at a time is where I tend to start.

Then you'll going to be boycotting 99% of the country - probably even the place you currently live has some silly laws.

The token law in this story isn't a bad law on its face. Another poster explained the rationale for the law earlier in this thread.

In this case, the police were the ones that went over the line in applying the law. A thread is posted here on FR almost everyday about the police applying a law in a nonsensical way.

77 posted on 12/10/2005 10:53:54 AM PST by JeffAtlanta
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