Helping drivers avoid tickets landed one man in the slammer.

Police in Frisco, Texas arrested Ron Martin last October because they caught him holding a sign on a highway letting motorists know officers had set up a speed trap in a nearby area. Authorities say Martin was hauled off to jail not for tipping off drivers, but for breaking the city’s sign ordinance, which mandates a sign must be on private property.

According to the police report:

I observed a couple cars drive by traveling westbound waving at us. 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 that read 'Police Ahead.'"

When police confronted Martin, he recorded the arrested on a cell phone.

Martin said he was merely trying to provide a service, much like the boys in blue:

Ultimately, we’re trying to do the exact same thing. 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."

Martin, who says he supports the idea of speed traps as a way of enforcing safety, has pleaded not guilty and will return to court on February 2.

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