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Man Fed Up With Aggressive Panhandlers Fights Back

BRADENTON, Fla. (CBS Local) -- A Florida man says he's had enough of aggressive panhandlers and is fighting back after a homeless man refused a job he offered.

Ryan Bray said he saw a homeless man begging for money Sunday on the side of the road in Bradenton, about 46 miles south of Tampa. When the panhandler approached his car, Bray offered him $15 an hour to do yard work.

"I said 'I got one better for you. I will take you to my house, which is down the road a piece, and give you $15 an hour to do yard work.'" Bray told WFTS. "'Absolutely not.' So I stated rolling up my window and he's getting belligerent the whole time and then he kicks my tire."

Fed up, Bray returned to the intersection later in the day with a sign that read: "I offered him $15 an hour to do yard work for me, and he refused. If we as a community stop paying them, they will leave our neighborhood!"

Bray stood at the intersection for three hours and shadowed the panhandler. He said things escalated and the Bradenton Police responded.

"He said he's going to rape my mother, kill my wife," he said.

The homeless man, who identified himself as "Alabama," denied Bray offered him anything.

"I never had no trouble until this dude shows up," he said. "Just because he's got money don't mean as homeless people we don't have rights."

Bray said that he understands "the plight of homelessness," but he wants the city to pass stricter ordinances against panhandling.

The Bradenton City Council is expected take up the issue during a meeting on July 24, WTVT reported.

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