14 DAY TRIAL // Just last week, I reported on the heartwarming act of a police officer, who stopped and bought a homeless man boots while on duty, to help him get through the harsh New York winter.
Unfortunately, it wasn't long until the man was spotted barefoot again. Reporters at the New York Times caught him on camera this weekend, walking the streets without the pricy boots.
The shoeless wanderer has since been identified as Jeffrey Hillman. In an interview with the Times, he complains about exactly that – everybody knows Officer DePrimo's name, and the NYPD received a lot of free publicity over a pair of boots, but all the media coverage failed to affect him positively.
“I was put on YouTube, I was put on everything without permission. What do I get? [...] This went around the world, and I want a piece of the pie,” he says.
Although many are commenting that he is ungrateful and wasteful, I believe he is entitled to his proverbial pie. If he was a Kardashian, a lawsuit would have been in order.
In addition to the lack of support from the community, he received threats to his life, which apparently got worse.
“Those shoes are hidden. They are worth a lot of money. [...] I could lose my life,” Mr. Hillman explains.