Police chief: Non-homeless, non-handicap
man making $1,000/weekend panhandling
KXTS [Abilene, TX],
by
Jamie Burch
Original Article
Posted By: MissMolly,
8/2/2019 5:09:28 AM
ABILENE, Texas — An Abilene man -- who appears to be homeless and handicap -- is making a good living by panhandling on weekends, according to the police chief.
Chief Stan Standridge said the man panhandles every Saturday and Sunday at the intersection of Hwy 83/84 and FM 707.
He sits in a wheelchair and the police department has gotten calls from people concerned about the man thinking he's homeless.
Standridge said the department's homeless outreach team has been in contact with the man.
They learned he is not homeless. Standridge said the man lives in a home in south Abilene.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
stablemoney 8/2/2019 6:26:41 AM (No. 140432)
I actually think there is a Panhandling Inc in Houston. It is so developed, intersections assigned, uniforms, specified hours, etc. Quite a large industry. Must be at least 5% of the cities GDP.
4 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
chumley 8/2/2019 6:43:45 AM (No. 140451)
They all have some scam. There are the scroungy ones with "disabled vet" signs and the "will work for food" types (they wont). One woman in spandex had a "stranded from Iowa" sign. It looked like she ATE Iowa. The ones who can rustle up a kid or two will dress them dirty and have them hang around. The worst are the ones that want to help you load your groceries in the parking lot.
No matter what the story, three things are certain. The story is a lie, if you give them money they will be back, and they will buy booze or drugs with the money.
17 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
zephyrgirl 8/2/2019 8:02:32 AM (No. 140496)
I witnessed a "shift change" of panhandlers while sitting in traffic at an intersection in Denver. One scruffy guy was standing there panhandling with the obligatory sign, and I watched a second one strolled up with his sign, they shook hands, exchanged a few words, and the first guy packed up his stuff and strolled off. Panhandling can be lucrative - all cash and no taxes. Collect $1,000 a week, and it is the equivalent of at least a $1,300/week paycheck, plus no expensive work wardrobe.
10 people like this.
I suspect at any given time these people have more cash in their pocket than I have in mine.
10 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Strike3 8/2/2019 8:52:47 AM (No. 140540)
This practice goes on in hundreds of cities and small towns. There is a guy in Pittsburgh who has the exclusive on rush hour traffic on the Fort Pitt bridge and appears to make a fortune. There is a guy in Marietta, Ohio who stands by a major shopping center with his dog and also rakes it in. If people are gullible enough to fall for it, apparently it is the panhandlers right to take advantage.
4 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
lakerman1 8/2/2019 9:00:36 AM (No. 140555)
The funniest line in Fiddler On The Roof is where a man gives a few kopeks to the town beggar, less than he usually gave to the beggar. When the beggar asks why the reduction, the man explains that he had a bad week (financially.)
The beggar says, "Just because you had a bad week, I have to have a bad week too?"
Panhandling used to be illegal. When did it become legal??
3 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
DVC 8/2/2019 9:02:50 AM (No. 140558)
A friend reports seeing one "homeless" panhandler leaving his post in the afternoon, walking to a 3 or 4 year old Mercedes and driving off.
I NEVER give to beggars in the USA. I always gave in Russia and the former soviet states. Most of them were really people crushed by the communist system. People who had 30 ruble/month pensions when the ruble was somewhere near the dollar on exchange basis. When I was there, 30 rubles was about $1.25. Per month.
No real poor people in the USA other than those who CHOOSE to be poor. We have so many welfare and other givaway programs that there are no legit poor people. Many who claim to be poor are obese, proof that they are not poor.
Panhandling is now a job.
10 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Lucky5 8/2/2019 9:58:59 AM (No. 140619)
Agree. Panhandling is a job with great pay for the most of them. Give to your own charities instead.
3 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
red1066 8/2/2019 10:00:19 AM (No. 140620)
Funny #7. I wonder if that panhandler was related to the woman panhandler who I saw last year get up out of her wheelchair, push it over to her Mercedes parked in the lot behind her, and drive off. I suspect that car of hers was newer then mine. Here in Baltimore, we have the extra duty of dodging people trying to clean your windshield at ever intersection. Even when you wave them off they do it any way, then expect to be paid.
4 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
AltaD 8/2/2019 10:43:44 AM (No. 140660)
There was a couple who used to work the DePaul campus L stop. Part of their pitch was that the woman was 5 months pregnant, they couldn't get help at shelters because they'd be separated. The college kids often fell for this scam but those of us who took the L on a regular basis knew better. This couple would work that stop for a couple weeks, disappear for a month or two and when they reappeared, the woman was still 5 months pregnant.
3 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
bigfatslob 8/2/2019 10:47:41 AM (No. 140665)
If I give money to a person begging on the street then they buy booze it cuts me out of money to buy my booze. I look at it like I'm cutting out the middle man to just keep my money and purchase my booze.
2 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
padiva 8/2/2019 11:08:53 AM (No. 140693)
Sometimes I give a bottle of water.
1 person likes this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
john56 8/2/2019 11:17:26 AM (No. 140714)
America certainly is the land of opportunity! If you can make $1000 a week panhandling in Abilene, Texas, you can do anything!
1 person likes this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
MDConservative 8/2/2019 11:30:12 AM (No. 140741)
I want to get a franchise. In our area the beggars are ferried by a church van. I know; I've seen the shift changes. The van is not disguised in any fashion. Hey, folks are free to give, or not.
2 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
saguni 8/2/2019 12:21:16 PM (No. 140830)
Years ago there was an expose on TV, young adults were making $1,000 an hour at LAX, because they "got mugged and need to get home to their sick mother."
1 person likes this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
KatieJo 8/2/2019 2:03:04 PM (No. 140945)
I don't even make eye contact with these people.
1 person likes this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
MickTurn 8/2/2019 6:19:30 PM (No. 141186)
CASH...NO TAXES, where do I sign up?
1 person likes this.
It is against the law in our city. I call the police on them all the time. One guy had such a gig he paid for gold teeth. He was a talented musician with a day job who would park his car at the other end of the shopping center. Never had a sign, but people would give him money all the time. His violin has duct tape on it. A few months ago, he looked like one of the three wise men. For awhile the homeless all bought crutches, wheel chairs and braces from GW. In another city they work a big intersection in shifts. Con men. Plus, we have seasonal gypsies.
0 people like this.
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