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And then the Cop stopped me.
Yesterday on the way from work, I picked up a half mile of Sportsmen for Coburn signs, probably almost 100 signs. They had inundated Council between NW Expsway and 122nd.
This morning I jumped up and headed out before 6 am. Picked up a lot of signs at 122nd & Council & a couple of folks stopped and chatted for a few minutes. They wondered what I was doing and I explained about the municipal code and that I was pulling up EVERYONE’s signs. They wanted to know what authority I had & I explained that I was a citizen. They then asked if I picked up any Whetsal signs (2) and then left.
I continued South to pick up a bunch at a polling place and while driving through the parking lot, drove past a OKC policeman and continued on to 113th & Council. I was cleaning up one corner when I saw another car stop over by the cop and pretty soon, over came the cop. I had been ratted out.
The policeman wanted to know what I was doing. I explained that I was picking up illegally placed signs and cited the code #. He said that I was stealing. I pointed out that it was on public land and didn’t belong to the city. He said that I was stealing and I was probably only picking up signs that belonged to 1 party. I told him that I was picking up all the signs and that they had been illegally placed and could be considered abandoned and litter.
He then said that the signs cost money and I probably have enough to constitute a felony and how would I feel talking to a judge. I said that I had about 200 signs, but I wasn’t sure it was a felony. As for the judge, it might be interesting and I wouldn’t mind talking to him about it. The cop looked at me with a "WHAT?" in his eyes.
I said that I would stop picking them up since it was considered stealing, but I hoped that the officer would just as strongly pursue the folks placing them. He said that he should make me put them all back and I replied that I would have to go home and get the rest if he wanted to do that. He said that it wasn’t my job to pick them up, to let the city do that. I explained that if I could save the city some $$ I thought that everyone came out ahead. He said he didn’t want to see me pick up any more signs. I told him that I would stop & not pick up any more signs. Oh, and since it was the city’s job to get rid of the signs, would he take & dispose of the signs that I already have?
He glared at me, replied no, and told me to go home.
I don’t have a count of what is currently in my trunk, but I’ll post that later today. Don’t forget to vote and be sure to pull up all the signs you can find.
