Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Pinkey Carr decided that humiliation would be the perfect punishment for 58-year-old Richard Dameron, who called 911 to threaten a retired police officer and four other police officers last February.
As part of his sentence, Dameron was ordered to stand outside the Cleveland Police's Second District Headquarters bearing a sign that read: “I apologize to officer Simone & all police officers for being an idiot calling 911 threatening to kill you. I'm sorry and it will not happen again."
Dameron gave a simple explanation for the 911 call that got him in trouble: “I was drunk. I was drinking."
“I was under the influence of alcohol, very deeply into it," he told WKNYC. "We just got to rambling, acting like fools. I do feel bad about it, cause the man's never done nothing to me.”
Judge Carr actually ordered Dameron to wear the sign back in May, but threw him in jail when he failed to turn up. Now that he's out of jail, Dameron has to wear the sign for three hours everyday this week.
Carr has handed down similar punishments before. In November she ordered Shena Hardin to bear an "idiot" sign after the 32-year-old swerved onto the sidewalk to avoid a school bus.
“Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus,” that sign read.
