Posted on 04/15/2005 10:50:32 AM PDT by Arrowhead1952
Woman says she was just trying to pay rent; officer misses hearing.
By Claire Osborn
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, April 15, 2005
An Austin woman who was ticketed while begging for money in a bikini had her case dismissed Thursday when the officer who issued the ticket didn't appear in court.
Wearing a bikini top under her T-shirt, Stephanie Bryan, 25, walked out of the municipal courtroom with her arms raised in victory.
She had been charged with soliciting from a roadway and faced $180 in fines. The police officer who filed the case couldn't attend the hearing, and Judge Kenneth Vitucci denied a motion to postpone the court date, a prosecutor said.
Bryan said that she and her friend, Alexis Caraway, panhandled in bikinis in the median at Burnet Road and U.S. 183 because they had been laid off from their jobs.
Caraway's case is pending. Bryan, a graduate of Texas State University with a degree in business, said she had been laid off as a finance manager for a truck dealership in Buda.
She also had worked for a magazine until her paychecks started bouncing, she said. Since then, she said, she's been laid off from a job as a credit manager at a radio station.
Holding up signs with messages such as "Rent is due," she and Caraway made several hundred dollars panhandling for about 10 days in July, she said.
"I didn't do anything wrong," Bryan said.
But none of that really matters now, she said cheerfully. She's giving up the hot streets of Austin and moving to Alaska next week to sell jewelry to cruise ship passengers.
"I want to make a lot of money," she said.
Have always considered retiring in Austin, but it is soo liberal. Not sure I could hack it.
I actually drove by these women, but traffic was moving so I couldn't slow down and read their signs!
Retire in Williamson County or some of the outlying areas. My area is over 65% Republican.
I remember Jeff Ward in the PM actually getting the women on the air. Someone had a cell phone and Jeff let them talk for several minutes. That was funny....
I heard this on drive-time radio as it happened. What brought the cops to come nosing around (initially) was that the "honest" panhandlers were upset that the beauties had muscled in on "their" corner.
The ladies had a mutual male friend with a cell phone and SUV nearby case anything bad went down. Drivers said on the radio that it was a pleasant change from the usual homeless panhandlers.
You should be zotted for that :)
Picture of Stephany as she was leaving the court room
Try the bikini gimmick in Alaska? It would definitely be a stand-out!
Well, some of the homeless panhandlers we've seen while commuting are very rough looking. There is one we see who would make Willie Nelson look like a king.
No kidding.......
Sorry.
I thought this was the Silly Friday thread.
Bring a boat-load of $$$ for your property taxes here.
You know, might have been the one time I considered donating to a bum. : )
You should be banned.
They sure post some painful pictures to see on this site.
The worst ones are the Helen Thomas ones. I can never get used to that, it never gets any better. I think I had nightmares about the picture of 72 Helen Thomas's awaiting muslim suicide bombers.
Uggh,
I'm going back over to the brittney murphy thread..
I think there were plenty of people donating to them that day.
LOL.
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