UNDATED: Ron Martin, 33, was arrested and cited for allegedly violating a city ordinance in Frisco, Texas, after an officer saw him holding a homemade sign warning drivers about speed traps. (MyFoxDFW.com)
A North Texas man is trying to clear his name after he was arrested and cited for allegedly violating a city ordinance for holding a homemade sign warning drivers about speed traps.
Ron Martin, 33, was arrested last October after an officer saw him standing in the median on the Eldorado Parkway in Frisco holding a sign that read "Police ahead," letting drivers know an officer was waiting at the opposite side of a nearby bridge, MyFoxDFW.com reported.
In the police report, Officer Thomas Mrozinski said he was familiar with Martin and had seen him two other times that month holding the sign in the median. He accused him of trying to interfere with the department's speed enforcement operations, according to the report.
"I observed a couple cars drive by traveling westbound waving at us,” Mrozinski wrote in the arrest report, WFAA.com reported. “Mr. Martin was observed standing in the center median of the six-lane divided roadway ... holding a sign in his right hand up over his shoulders."
Martin said he is not opposed to speed traps, but is concerned about what he calls unsafe practices by officers running the speed enforcement. He has filed several complaints with Frisco Police about the officers' conduct along the busy stretch of highway.
"They hide behind signs and they use their motorcycles sitting in the road, sun going down, without lights or anything," Martin told MyFoxDFW.com. "I just feel like it was a little bit unsafe, not only for citizens, but for police officers having to do their job."
Martin was cited for allegedly violating Frisco's sign ordinance, which states that people holding signs must be on private property. He has pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge and made his first court appearance on Wednesday, WFAA.com reported.
“Ultimately, we’re trying to do the exact same thing,” Martin told the court. “I just don’t wear a uniform. I’m the same thing as a speed limit sign, just reminding people that there is a limit here."
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