You know - I don’t blame him for trying to feed his family doing something that was illegal but not particularly nasty of injurious to others. That being said his real undoing was not submitting to arrest when he knew what he was doing was wrong.
He probably would have been out of jail on bail that afternoon if he had just put his arms behind his back and copped it sweet. The judge would have probably given him a fine and he could have gone on with his little business in another location.
I worked in Security for 25 years - when you caught someone 25 years ago they would hang their heads and go reasonably quietly. Now they threaten you, promise to come back and get you (sometimes these are not empty threats), swear at you and, if they are able they will take you on. Somehow they blame you for their arrest - this is our world and it sucks!
Which was taking food away from those who were selling the goods legally.