ORLANDO, Fla. – A homeless Orlando man who was arrested last week, accused of violating a city ordinance by sitting on a sidewalk, had his charge dropped within days, court records show.
Paul Clark, 62, was arrested Jan. 8 to face a charge of sitting/lying on sidewalks in the downtown core district. Orlando police had initially said Clark was the first arrest under a newly-approved ordinance against blocking city sidewalks, later correcting themselves to state Clark was actually in violation of City Ordinance 43.88, which had been in existence for several years.
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During his arrest, police said Clark became irate after being placed in handcuffs and began to hit his head against the plastic prisoner compartment in a transport vehicle, adding he had been given “numerous warnings that he (sic) not allowed to sit on the sidewalk within the downtown corridor of Orlando.”
Orlando City Prosecutor Alex Weaver dropped the charge against Clark on Jan. 11, court documents show, ordering relevant records be cleared and that Clark be released were he not already.
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