BERKELEY — A Berkeley hot dog vendor who ran afoul of the law for doing business without a permit has generated so much public support that he’s now within reach of realizing his dream of owning a food truck.

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A University of California police officer cited Rigoberto Matias on Sept. 9 following a football game for selling on the Berkeley campus without a permit and reportedly took cash from the street vendor’s wallet as evidence.

But a disapproving customer captured the incident on video and posted it to Facebook, touching off an outpouring of sympathy among the those who watched it nearly 13 million times.

And when the same patron turned to the GoFundMe website to raise money on behalf of Matias, donations flooded in, far exceeding the original $10,000 goal.

On Saturday, Martin Flores returned to the campus to present Matias with a check for $87,921 encircled by dozens of wellwishers and reporters, and videotaped the event on Facebook Live.

“It’s unfortunate that there are strict rules to get a license or a permit for somebody like Beto,” Flores said, noting that Matias represents many street vendors who work hard to support their families.

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“People are violating all kinds of rules that we all accept on game days. People are jaywalking — we’re OK with that. People are drinking — we’re OK with that. But why are we going to pick on a young man who’s providing for his family? We must humanize our vendors, not criminalize them.”