Atlanta man handcuffed, issued citation for selling subway token

<p>Transit police handcuffed and issued a citation to a man who sold a $1.75 subway token to another man who was having trouble with a token machine.</p><p>A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, Jocelyn Baker, said Friday that an officer who spotted Donald Pirone, 42, selling the token on Nov. 30 inside a subway station could have given the man only a warning and sent him on his way.</p><p>But, Baker said the officer decided to handcuff Pirone and give him a citation for the misdemeanor offense because a 1992 state law prohibits passengers from selling tokens.</p><p>"What you've got to keep in mind is that fare abuse is a chronic problem," Baker said. "It costs MARTA millions of dollars every year."</p><p>Baker acknowledged that Pirone sold the token at face value and did not make a profit. But, she said the law is the law.</p><p>"There are customer service phones for people who are having trouble getting tokens out of the machine," Baker said. "The fact is our officer acted within the law."</p><p>As for Pirone being handcuffed, Baker said the officer felt that was necessary.</p><p>"Our officers do that for their own safety," Baker said.</p><p>There was no answer Friday at a phone listed to a Donald V. Pirone in Atlanta. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he was just trying to help a fellow passenger out who was having trouble with a token machine.</p><p>"I gave him a token and, I guess out of his generosity, he gave me the money for it," Pirone said. "But I didn't ask him for money."</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2005/12/134061