CLEVELAND -- A judge has dismissed the case of an Elyria man ticketed for littering after giving money to a homeless man.
A Cleveland police officer fined John Davis $344 after the money fell to the ground as he handed it out of his vehicle window to the homeless wheelchair-bound man on May 17. The donation came at a busy freeway interchange.
The judge threw out the case on the basis that money didn't constitute trash.
Davis said he is relieved by the decision and talked to reporters afterwards.
"I'm happy. It's done. It's over and they dropped it. 'Would you have done anything differently?' Yes. 'What?' Not hand money out the window to anybody."
Davis says he will now give money to directly to charities instead.
The police officer who gave Davis the ticket did not speak in court.
Cleveland police say it's illegal to solicit or give money at the side of the road because it is dangerous.
WKYC-TV