When a homeless man approached Ryan Bray with a plea for money, the Bradenton resident didn’t hand over cash or coins.
Instead, he presented the homeless man with a job offer: $15 an hour to do yard work.
According to WPTV, the panhandler refused the offer and became belligerent, Bray said. After the homeless man allegedly kicked his tire, Bray rolled up his window and drove away, the station reported.
Later that day, Bray returned to the intersection with a strongly-worded message:
“I offered him $15 an hour to do yardwork for me, and he refused. If we as a community stop paying them, they will leave our neighborhood!”
Bray said the homeless man was “aggressive” and shouted slurs at him.
“They curse and they yell at you. Said he’s going to “rape my mother, kill my wife” you know why? Because, I didn’t give you any dollars. Don’t get belligerent with people that don’t give you money,” he told WPTV.
Local
Bradenton police responded to the situation.
WFTS in Tampa reportedly talked to the homeless man, who wanted to be identified only as “Alabama.” The homeless man said he didn’t cause any trouble and claimed Bray was the aggressor.
He also said Bray never offered him a job.
"He's a rich preppy [expletive], piece of [expletive] who thinks I'm supposed to take his [expletive] because he's got money and he lives down here. I don't care what you got brother," Alabama told the station. "I never had no trouble until this dude shows up. Just because he's got money, don't mean as homeless people, we don't have rights."
