Cleveland man wears 'idiot' sign for threatening police

Michael Winter | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Ohio man who threatened cops holds 'idiot' sign A man who threatened officers in Cleveland is making a court-ordered public apology by standing near a police station with a sign describing himself as an idiot. (Sept. 3)

A Cleveland man admits he was an "idiot" for calling 911 and threatening to kill police, and he has the court-ordered sign to prove it.

Richard Dameron, 58, is standing outside a police station for three hours a day this week displaying his handmade mea culpa as punishment for his conviction.

"I apologize for everything I've done, you know. I do feel bad about it 'cause the man has never done nothing to me," Dameron told WKYC-TV on Monday as he stood outside the 2nd District police station on the first day of his public shaming.

"I was under the influence of alcohol," he explained. "We were very deeply into it and we just started rambling off, acting like fools with a couple of officers."

Dameron's sign apologizes to a particular officer and "all police officers" for "being an idiot," and he pledges "it will never happen again."

It's not the first time Municipal Court Judge Pinkey Carr has used the unusual sentencing tactic, the Associated Press notes. Carr ordered a woman convicted of passing a stopped school bus to wear a similar sign.