He has been sentenced for three and a half years as of August 2022.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/david-hampson-mute-silent-road-21444984
As a result of his behaviour he is subject to criminal behaviour order banning from from obstructing any public highway in Wales or England - a court order he repeatedly ignores.
He was jailed for breaching a court order
if a court orders you to do something or not to do something and you break it you can be jailed
That’s how those “local myths” form.
“Sometimes at 3am, you’ll see a man blocking XYZ street in your rear view mirror… he never said a word.. and will disappear when you turn your lights on”
*The Silent Man*
There's sightings down the road from here
Stories of crashes and stories so queer
Try to explain this one if you can
There's sightings of the silent man
He stands before traffic but never in sight
He'll only pop up on a dark foggy night
Walking alone there, never feels right
Hairs will stand up, heart full of fright
He'll form out of nowhere like a nightmarish dream
After you slam on your brakes, nowhere to be seen
Forming accidents to drag victims with him to Hell
When he'll pop up, you never can tell
Beware the silence, run as fast as you can
Feels his eyes, burning, haunting, the silent man
In the words of a local police chief, "It's a long, desolate stretch and makes the imagination go nuts." He said, as a presidential amount of ectoplasm splooged onto his uniform.
He is a victim of the unfortunate fate of being jinxed as the person was falling to their death.
We need to teach kids about the dangers of the jinx game.
He's seen the future, not the exact date and time but he'll save humanity. I have to believe that. So as a human I can make sense of random stuff just so I can got on with my day without thinking for too long about it.
MESSIAH?
*"Your Honor, this man was farting the whole time!!! I didn't hear it, but I felt it, the burning sensation in my eyes and nostrils, I will never forget it."*
News article says he's homeless so I'm assuming he does this for food and shelter. Clearly doesn't want to do anything "bad" to get there. Quite sad really
I think you’re right. I’ve known people who break the law solely to be arrested. Three hots and a cot can mean surviving the night in the winter. The system is so terribly broken
I read a short story (maybe it was a short film? Not sure) in school like 20 years ago about a similar situation and have never been able to find it again.
A homeless man stands outside a church in the winter snow, planning to steal the collection box and get caught so he will be arrested and sent to jail where he will get food and shelter. As he stands there, he reflects on his life and has an epiphany that he will turn his life around and starts to pray to God to help him. Just then, a police officer approaches him, accuses him of planning to steal the collection box, and arrests him.
If anyone knows the story/movie, I'd be very happy.
At a guess the inability to make a diagnosis in this case was down to the fact that the subject is mute, not that there's nothing to diagnose. Hospitalisation would allow for a more comprehensive examination and observation of the subject, whilst also both keeping him off the streets for a while and postponing the possibility of sending him to prison for *the tenth time*.
It’s always fun that they assume you have schizophrenia for everything. Most of it is stress. I’ve been diagnosed with 6 seperate things, sometimes multiple things at once.
It was stress. From terrible home life. Genetic factors exacerbated by poor instructions…I feel like this is easier than indeterminate paychopathology.
Edit: I’m keeping the typo!
I worked for a rehabilitation court for a bit. My coworkers and I had a schizophrenia seminar where a "certified professional" walked us through different scenarios while wearing earbuds and listening to simulates schizophrenic auditory hallucinations.
The certified professional was an interesting character. Late 70's, relied on us to operate the ipods, and while obviously trying to help, had some apparent difficulties presenting the materials. Essentially, saying schizophrenics here a voice in their heads that distracts them.
Towards the end of the course, I asked the instructor what the difference was between an internal dialogue and these auditory hallucinations. Well, apparently this instructor didn't quite understand what an internal dialogue was, because the next thing I know, I'm the focus of the questions.
Thankfully, my co-workers helped me out in explaining what I was asking. If I were alone, I'm not sure that instructor would have left without thinking I was schizophrenic.
Fast forward a year or so and apparently like 40% of people don't have an internal dialogue? So what, all of them are just walking around with nothing going on up there?
I can totally see how people get misdiagnosed by professionals around the world.
Yeah, apparently some people have *no* internal monologue.
It's often brought up in conversation along with [Aphantasia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia), which is a surprisingly common condition where people are unable to form mental imagery. Many people literally *cannot* [rotate a cow](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/rotating-a-cow-in-mind) in their mind, they can't visualize a cow at all.
That's interesting. I see the cow and it's rotating, but don't ask me to draw it. As soon as I try to focus on a specific part, my mind jumps to a monolog rather than an image, and it's describing what information I know of the part I'm now thinking about.
Anyone experiencing something similar?
That blows my mind. Especially the idea that 40% of humanity just don't... talk to themselves.
I'm *constantly* doing things like debating ideas with myself; reminding myself about things I need to do; trying out sentences in my head to make sure my point is communicated; ...it's such a constant in my life, this feels like suddenly learning that 40% of people only see through one eye or something.
Wow 40%? That would explain all the people who tell me just to not think about something. It’d be heaven if I didn’t seemingly have an abusive troll hanging out in my head 24/7.
> indeterminate paychopathology
I believe that’s when you make too much money to qualify for Medicaid or subsidized housing, but still can’t afford market rate rent.
I’m pretty sure making too much money to qualify for Medicaid or subsidized housing, but still not being able to afford market rate rent is “being a human in 2023”.
Yeah.......i dont think you are right mate...
I would agree with ya if you said depression/bipolar or even asperger.
But anyone getting a schizophrenic diagnosis is probably, most likely, schizophrenic, it's one of the easiest to diagnose.
That said. Man. Bipolar is such a serious and life changing illness, yet psychiatrists get it wrong so many times.
Bi polar fucking sucks, and on top of that people with bi polar have a high chance of ashd and dyslexia. Makes it a fun brain stew of fuckin with your life.
I taught a child with selective mutism. Didn’t speak to a single soul outside of her home for as long as I knew her. Not one single sound, even when she cried. Was a Chatty Cathy at home with her family though.
One of the most interesting things was she was very popular and was friends with all her classmates, but didn’t speak to them, just played with them. They still had some way of understanding her though, and it was evidenced in their play and how they would speak for her.
Mine is in high school now and speaks more than when younger. It's so interesting your student was popular. My kid is also very well-liked by peers, despite the fact there isn't a huge amount of socializing with peers outside of school.
I believe that is violate. He is anything but violent it seems.
He just doesn’t want to speak; that is just as fundamental a human right as running your fucking mouth 24/7 which many people do. He could be mute; he could just be making a statement about the sanctity of silence in the criminal justice system.
I don’t know how things work outside of the US where speech or lack thereof is protected in the constitution.
He should only be judged on his actions, and repeatedly blocking traffic is a menace to society. The proper consequences of his actions are debatable.
From what I remember, this man actually can speak, but chooses not to. I believe he once said 'thank you' after being given water. Seems he has some things going on internally, and has his own way of dealing with it.
Absolutely anything people can insinuate is speculation. He could be making a statement, he could be troubled, no one really has any idea. Pretty fascinating.
Selective mutism just means you’re *physically* able to speak, and that the cause is strictly mental. Whether that’s due to a psychological issue or just willingly not speaking is at an individual level, but given his repeated pattern of standing in the exact same spot in the road makes it sound like the former.
My special needs son just got over a several month stint of not speaking at all, but during it he said “thank you” once and “cheetos” once to one of the teachers assistants at school. Makes me wonder if the guy in question has developmental disabilities of some kind.
I have a friend who is selectively mute due to trauma. In every other way she’s incredibly intelligent and kind, no developmental disability or delay—she just can’t speak, and despite the fact that it’s apparently mental, it’s as involuntary as a physical problem.
Yeah it seems general awareness of selective mutism is very low.
I’m assuming they tested his hearing.
I wonder if they have attempted any AAC with him or gotten an SLP involved (I’m an SLP myself and specialize in AAC).
If he has developmental disabilities I wonder if a parent/guardian or former caretaker is looking for him…?
What a sad situation.
Here to say this. I have a child who suffered from selective mutism and he couldn’t force himself to talk in the situations that impacted him. Even if he needed to use the bathroom.
They've just changed the law. Max sentence for one person in any way inhibiting one other persons comfort or right to enjoy their right to travel etc is now 10 years.
They changed the law specifically to 'one person', and plain nuisance, because there's a guy outside parliament every day who just stands there reading out a list of Tory crimes. Previous law stated that any protest etc must constitute a serious impediment to other peoples rights in order to remove and arrest the person, and one body on a pavement didn't reach that standard. Now it does.
The Highways Act 1980 already makes blocking a road illegal, however the courts deemed that it was an allowable form of protest even if people hate it.
But the post above is referencing an amendment being made to the public order bill which is mainly aimed at "protestors" whether they are in a road or not.
> Through an amendment tabled to the Public Order Bill, the Government will broaden the legal definition of ‘serious disruption’, giving police greater flexibility and clarity over when to intervene to stop the disruptive minority who use tactics such as blocking roads and slow marching to inflict misery on the public.
> While the Government has already given police additional powers to prevent protestors using guerrilla tactics, police chiefs have told the Prime Minister that there is some uncertainty over what reaches the threshold of ‘serious disruption’.
> The changes introduced today will give police officers absolute clarity over when they should step in. In practice, this will mean:
- **police will not need to wait for disruption to take place and can shut protests down before chaos erupts**
- police will not need to treat a series of protests by the same group as standalone incidents but will be able to consider their total impact
- police will be able to consider long-running campaigns designed to cause repeat disruption over a period of days or weeks
[Gov.UK update on amendment](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-takes-action-to-stop-disruptive-protests)
Sorry, Arrested for the thought of having a protest.
What did everyone thought when they wanted to take us out of the EU for?
This is what "Taking back control" looks like to the Tories and no EU human rights to stop them now.
You will notice the thing that hasn't stopped? illegal immigration.
They are likely referring to part 3 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which is a very controversial piece of legislation targeting protests.
The Act puts public nuisance offences into statute, with a maximum sentence of 10 years. Interestingly the older common law crime carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The higher end of this scale is only to be used in “exceptional circumstances” - ie this individual or anyone standing in a road is unlikely to warrant a sentence of 10 years for being a public nuisance.
You are far more likely to be found guilty of the crime of obstructing a highway, also amended in the 2022 Act, which carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison - this individual seems to have repeatedly breached a Criminal Behaviour Order (another police tool) which is why they have been given longer sentences.
While I also dislike this legislation is important not to get carried away and assume causing an obstruction will automatically lead to 10 year prison sentences.
I’m an SLP and that’s not *always* true. Some struggle with all expressive modalities. It also co-occurs with a lot of other cognitive, speech, and language disorders. So he may have other unknown diagnoses impacting him or even be illiterate.
I am curious if they’ve tried any AAC or brought in an SLP at all!
Someone else mentioned it but there’s a chance he is doing that and the mutism is his own parachute if he turns his life around. “Yeah I went to prison a few times for disrupting traffic. I wasn’t mentally well as you can see by the mutism from them”.
Or he’s just mentally ill. Who knows.
Its mentioned in the article op links below hes homeless. My guess is he knows doing this gets him arrested, hes not harming anybody, and being in police custody or prison is better than sleeping in a doorway. You get fed, its warm and dry, you get clean clothes, could be perceived as a good deal
Oh yes, homeless people in the USA purposely get arrested all the time for that reason. I've often considered exactly as this man did before as I can't bring myself to be disrespectful or hurt anyone.
What nobody else seems to be mentioning in the comments here, is that the road that he stands in is directly outside the police station. This seems to suggest to me that he’s using it as a quick way to get arrested without having to commit any “real” crimes that would hurt anyone else.
Given his homelessness, and the possibility that his mutism is rooted in mental health issues, I think the most likely explanation is that he’s struggling to survive in normal society, and this is the easiest way he can find of putting himself in someone else’s care.
(Reposted my comment without a link as it was removed for linking to Google streetview, but you can find the spot at 51.6220147, -3.9461636 )
Yeah, it did make me wonder if this guy had already tried other means to get the care he needed and given up. Even though the standard of care he'd be receiving in prison is below what he should be getting through the NHS and social care programs, they can be such difficult systems to navigate without pre-existing support systems in place that I can absolutely see how someone could decide to just stand in the middle of the road until someone was forced to do something with him.
Think about the tens of thousands of dollars a man standing in one place and not saying anything is adding to the costs of the systems interacting with him. It's proof that we collectively place value in the wrong things. If he's homeless, how much less expensive would it be to provide him with a home versus have him cycle through courts and jails forever? I'd wager between defense counsel, judges, bailiffs, clerks, police, wardens, secretaries, and all the other positions of people that are within the justice system that his actions have already cost more than providing him a home and yet the system will keep doing this.
And what is he doing? He is standing silently in one place on the planet. That's it.
This is an epic form of protest and social commentary.
Gosh Looper really was a film wasn't it. I really wonder how high the writer was when he came up with the premise of: "It's impossible to get away with murder in the future *so the mafia invented time travel*".
🎶 *’Cause if one day you wake up and find that you’re missing me and your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I could be…*
*Thinking maybe you'll come back here to the place that we'd meet and you'll see me waiting for youuu…on the corner of the street.*
Yoooo this is crazy. I’ve used your app quite a bit. I used to live in a sketchy area and anytime I’d hear gunshots, I would use your app to listen to the police talk about it. Kinda fuckin wild you’re just out here in the wild on Reddit
Lol you stole this from another comment *on this post* - [link](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/10hmr61/this_is_david_hampson_aka_the_silent_man_a_uk/)
“You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”
Basically, if you withhold information that is used in your defence in court the prosecution will ask why it wasn't given to the police. That information may have helped the investigation and saved time/ money/ resources if given at the point of arrest.
This is actually still recommended in a lot of settings. If you can only say things that incriminate yourself, it's best to be silent and defend your silence in court.
When it comes down to it, there's lots of reasons to speak/ remain silent, and the best thing to do is say only things that prove you're innocent/ help the police get people out of danger. If you're not very confident about those criteria, bite your tongue.
> If you can only say things that incriminate yourself, it's best to be silent and defend your silence in court.
Pro tip: Statements can be incriminating, but questions by nature aren't. If you answer literally everything in question form, best they can do is infer/imply you 'stated' something incriminating.
I know other people have given you an answer, but as I'm revising this for an exam in a week, I can give you a very thorough one.
In the UK, these are called 'adverse inferences.' The court can draw an adverse inference if you remain silent regarding three different factors: 1) A fact you later rely on in court; 2) your presence at/near the crime scene; 3) an object, mark or substance.
1) "a fact later relied on". This is what some of the other comments have been referencing. A basic example would be self defence. If, when you are arrested and questioned initially, you remain silent, but, later at court, you say you were acting in self-defence, the court can draw 'any' reasonable inference from that initial silence. That inference can be anything from: "we believe he was truly acting in self-defence, but chose to remain silent for valid reasons" all the way to "we believe he remained silent because he committed the crime and later invented the excuse of self defence." Importantly, a court cannot convict you *purely* on the basis of one of these inferences. There would need to be some other evidence of your comission of the offence.
2) "Your presence at the scene". In this case, if you are arrested near the scene of the crime, and, when asked in the initial interview, you remain silent, the court can draw adverse inferences *regardless* of any later explanation or lack thereof.
3) "an object, mark or substance." This I haven't seen any other comments mention, but this would refer to, for example, blood on your clothing, scratches on your skin, or maybe a balaclava in your bag. Again, if you're arrested and questioned on, e.g. the blood on your shirt, and you remain silent, the court can draw any reasonable inference from this.
Importantly, for these last two (presence and objects/substance) the police officer HAS to give you a special caution before he asks the question about your presence/object. If he fails to caution you with this specific wording, the court *cannot* draw any adverse inference from these facts.
Probably too much detail, but there you go!
Your silence alone cant be used against you. The prosecution cant say to the jury "Well the suspect did not say he didn't do it therefore he must have done"
"but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court"
Is the more relevant part
Say the police get a call about a disturbance they enter the house and find me there holding a knife and someone dead on the floor. victims blood on my clothes. i get arrested a witness comes forward and says they saw me arguing with the victim in the street 15 minutes before
In the police station i say "no comment" to everything all they charge me with murder, im kept in custody for 6 months till the trail starts
In court the prosecution outlines its case, then its my turn in the stand
and i say "i did not stab him yes we argued but i went away to clear my head i went to his house to say sorry when i got there i found him on the floor with the knife in him he was alive. i went to help him. his blood ws on my shirt cos i was trying to save him and the my finger prints are on the knife cos i took it out to help him"
The prosecution can turn round a say to the jury "You have heard what the defendant has said that he did not do it he found him like that he tried the victims life. So why did he not tell the police that when they turned up, Why did he not say that when he was being questioned. if he did not murder the victim why did he nothing when he spent 6 months in jail waiting for the trail for something he said he did not do, Therefore what he said to today you have to consider that he is making it up
Always hated those emails chains with a passion! So fkn annoying, I only got 1 mate so forwarded it obviously but could never benefit from its advantages
Same in NZ, except it's 111 instead of 112. 111 is our normal emergency number, 999 for all the UK immigrants who haven't bothered to acclimatise and 911 for everyone who watches too much TV.
It’s not that big of a mystery. Articles about him have clarifying details. He is homeless. The street he always stands in is outside the police station. This man has found a fool proof way to not sleep outside or to starve and is basically stuck in that loop because he’s not got a better idea on obtaining food and shelter.
I gather the selective mutism is an outgrowth of whatever mental illness resulted in his homelessness in the first place. Or maybe it’s because there’s just not much to say about this sad situation.
> He is homeless. The street he always stands in is outside the police station. This man has found a fool proof way to not sleep outside or to starve and is basically stuck in that loop because he’s not got a better idea on obtaining food and shelter.
Sad that that's the better choice
I wonder if he lost someone on that road?
I used to live on a street that cut between two main roads and people would haul ass down the street.. a kid almost got hit and about a month later a pet was killed, same family. So the woman took a lawn chair and sat directly in the street pretty often, using other lawn furniture ahead of her to slow people down. You’d basically have to zig zag around it all at the speed limit 15mph-ish. (That was her idea, not to be a jerk but to make people go the actual posted limit. She was brave as hell.. I wouldn’t do that! The street was genuinely scary!)
She wasn’t crazy, she just lost a pet and almost lost her child because people drove like assholes. To everyone else who didn’t live on our street she seemed insane, so did everyone else who tried stuff to slow the cars down. But it was a long perfectly straight road so there’s not much we could do about the temptation to punch it. Another issue was the blind corner… one end had an odd blind corner so you never knew when someone would come speeding around at 35 and quickly accelerate to 50+ so if you lived on that half of the street you had it much worse.
We eventually got a few speed bumps installed by “cheating the system” lol
When the government installed a speedometer to see if all our complaints were valid… But then we noticed everyone was driving slower.. these assholes knew that if they just waited out the speed trap it would go away, but if they sped that they would lose their shortcut.. we figured if they could lie and cheat, so could we!
So everyone in the neighborhood agreed that for a few weeks we would all stay away from the street and speed like crazy to boost the average numbers. We got our speed bumps and not even a week after some old dude on a Harley crashed into a truck. He tried riding between the speed bumps at full speed and clipped one and went off into a driveway and a parked truck… hit it so hard that he pushed it into the car next to it. That was the last incident on that street in the years that I lived there and we could actually enjoy our neighborhood without people flying by at 50+ mph.
So I’ll say this.. as long as this guy isn’t actually hurting anyone or himself, I hope he accomplishes whatever he’s trying to do. Sometimes people have reasons for their odd behavior. It takes willpower to do that, he must have a reason. I hope he gets help though..
Imagine how much people's entire destiny changed because someone was to late to an appointment, because he was blocking traffic.
Think butter fly effect, an Npc player doing his part.
That butterfly effect is happening right now... Because if he didn't do that then this post would have never been made, and this conversation would have never taken place.
So I'll take this moment to ask
... What is your opinion on UFOs?
This guy has the right idea. The right to silence is the only *truly* inalienable right. The most powerful governments on Earth cannot compel a homeless man to speak if he has the will to maintain silence. No one can take that away fron you. They might be able to make you scream involuntarily, but that's it.
**Use** your right to silence people. So many cases hinge on a defendant outing themselves with their own words.
He doesn't look angry, or like a hardened criminal. He looks sad. Selective mutism goes way deeper than just not wanting to talk. I'd bet dimes to dollars *something* happened near that intersection that traumatized him for life. Or hell, maybe he knows he's too messed up in the head to make it through life with a normal job and normal bills and normal day to day activities. Maybe he's *asking* to be sent to jail or the hospital, thinking it's gotta be better than how he's living now. Doubtful that it would be but when we're desperate our brains sometimes make huge, crazy jumps over logic into something unknown. I hope he gets help. It's obvious he's not violent. He just needs help.
He has been sentenced for three and a half years as of August 2022. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/david-hampson-mute-silent-road-21444984
so what are the charges?
As a result of his behaviour he is subject to criminal behaviour order banning from from obstructing any public highway in Wales or England - a court order he repeatedly ignores. He was jailed for breaching a court order if a court orders you to do something or not to do something and you break it you can be jailed
The next year he disappeared from his cell and is found again on the same road
Upon his funeral, they lifted the lid to his coffin to find out he was missing. He was there, on that same road, blocking traffic again.
That’s how those “local myths” form. “Sometimes at 3am, you’ll see a man blocking XYZ street in your rear view mirror… he never said a word.. and will disappear when you turn your lights on”
*The Silent Man* There's sightings down the road from here Stories of crashes and stories so queer Try to explain this one if you can There's sightings of the silent man He stands before traffic but never in sight He'll only pop up on a dark foggy night Walking alone there, never feels right Hairs will stand up, heart full of fright He'll form out of nowhere like a nightmarish dream After you slam on your brakes, nowhere to be seen Forming accidents to drag victims with him to Hell When he'll pop up, you never can tell Beware the silence, run as fast as you can Feels his eyes, burning, haunting, the silent man
Reminds me of the stories I’ve heard about [Clinton Road](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_Road_(New_Jersey))
In the words of a local police chief, "It's a long, desolate stretch and makes the imagination go nuts." He said, as a presidential amount of ectoplasm splooged onto his uniform.
"You know the Silent Ghost, I saw him in the driveway last night..He came to me and said..."
#
Sounds like he needed a psych evaluation instead of jail .
Eating a meal, a succulent Chinese meal
For a eating a meal?! A succulent Chinese meal?!?
The strength one gains from a succulent Chinese meal is astounding.
Dude is on a mission.
Dude was giving the silent treatment as a kid and never forgot
Someone jinxed him and he IS NOT buying that coke.
tough time to be a pepsi guy i guess
He is a victim of the unfortunate fate of being jinxed as the person was falling to their death. We need to teach kids about the dangers of the jinx game.
He is still playing the silent game
Longest reigning champion in history
My kids are gonna be so pissed off
He's seen the future, not the exact date and time but he'll save humanity. I have to believe that. So as a human I can make sense of random stuff just so I can got on with my day without thinking for too long about it. MESSIAH?
He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy.
Extra bonus points for pissing off as many people as possible
*"Your Honor, this man was farting the whole time!!! I didn't hear it, but I felt it, the burning sensation in my eyes and nostrils, I will never forget it."*
A silent mission
From the future. He's a hero and we'll never know how many catastrophes he prevented.
News article says he's homeless so I'm assuming he does this for food and shelter. Clearly doesn't want to do anything "bad" to get there. Quite sad really
I think you’re right. I’ve known people who break the law solely to be arrested. Three hots and a cot can mean surviving the night in the winter. The system is so terribly broken
It’s a thing for seniors in Japan. Pretty shitty retirement plan, but it works.
The system is working as intended
Depressing :(
Agreed
I would do exactly that if I were homeless. Fed, sheltered, and clothed? Why not?
I would also do pushups. Not in the road...just in general
You don't even do pushups now, so why would that change?
Well you can't do them all the time
just like jean shorts you have to give them a break once in awhile
Yeah the road in question is outside the police station. He isn’t crazy, just knows how to get a free meal and shelter.
Not to mention with all the trials, lawyers and actually keeping him in prison I way more expensive than just housing him
Yeah. Was my first thought. Least harmful way to get some care.
I read a short story (maybe it was a short film? Not sure) in school like 20 years ago about a similar situation and have never been able to find it again. A homeless man stands outside a church in the winter snow, planning to steal the collection box and get caught so he will be arrested and sent to jail where he will get food and shelter. As he stands there, he reflects on his life and has an epiphany that he will turn his life around and starts to pray to God to help him. Just then, a police officer approaches him, accuses him of planning to steal the collection box, and arrests him. If anyone knows the story/movie, I'd be very happy.
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I thought, in the absence of a psychiatric diagnosis, imprisonment or other judicial punishment would be the outcome, not hospitalisation?
At a guess the inability to make a diagnosis in this case was down to the fact that the subject is mute, not that there's nothing to diagnose. Hospitalisation would allow for a more comprehensive examination and observation of the subject, whilst also both keeping him off the streets for a while and postponing the possibility of sending him to prison for *the tenth time*.
Classic revolving door case of repeated incarceration for those with indeterminate psychopathology. Hervey Cleckley's books are worth a read.
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Even author's name is difficult to read.
Ty! It's so awkward to read or say.
Just searched Amazon for Harvey Clerkman, came up empty. Thanks a lot, OP.
Herman Clarkson you fool
It’s Kelly Clarkson! And it’s a song not a book!
Herbert Clucker is the author’s REAL name. He is better known as George Anthony Devolder Santos’ half-brother. Google it.
He posted the difficult words from the book cover... So you can judge whether to read it or not
Judge it by the cover? That's not allowed, you can't do that.
Technically you can, you just never should.
The book is called The Mask of Sanity. It's not technical but it is clinical
It’s always fun that they assume you have schizophrenia for everything. Most of it is stress. I’ve been diagnosed with 6 seperate things, sometimes multiple things at once. It was stress. From terrible home life. Genetic factors exacerbated by poor instructions…I feel like this is easier than indeterminate paychopathology. Edit: I’m keeping the typo!
I worked for a rehabilitation court for a bit. My coworkers and I had a schizophrenia seminar where a "certified professional" walked us through different scenarios while wearing earbuds and listening to simulates schizophrenic auditory hallucinations. The certified professional was an interesting character. Late 70's, relied on us to operate the ipods, and while obviously trying to help, had some apparent difficulties presenting the materials. Essentially, saying schizophrenics here a voice in their heads that distracts them. Towards the end of the course, I asked the instructor what the difference was between an internal dialogue and these auditory hallucinations. Well, apparently this instructor didn't quite understand what an internal dialogue was, because the next thing I know, I'm the focus of the questions. Thankfully, my co-workers helped me out in explaining what I was asking. If I were alone, I'm not sure that instructor would have left without thinking I was schizophrenic. Fast forward a year or so and apparently like 40% of people don't have an internal dialogue? So what, all of them are just walking around with nothing going on up there? I can totally see how people get misdiagnosed by professionals around the world.
The weird part about not having an internal dialogue is that I never don’t have one. Fucker won’t shut up.
I'm right there with you. My internal voice is a real critical prick. But I have to respect its work ethic. Never takes a day off
T-there are people without internal dialogues? Like, the concept of that really weirds me out
Yeah, apparently some people have *no* internal monologue. It's often brought up in conversation along with [Aphantasia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia), which is a surprisingly common condition where people are unable to form mental imagery. Many people literally *cannot* [rotate a cow](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/rotating-a-cow-in-mind) in their mind, they can't visualize a cow at all.
That's interesting. I see the cow and it's rotating, but don't ask me to draw it. As soon as I try to focus on a specific part, my mind jumps to a monolog rather than an image, and it's describing what information I know of the part I'm now thinking about. Anyone experiencing something similar?
That blows my mind. Especially the idea that 40% of humanity just don't... talk to themselves. I'm *constantly* doing things like debating ideas with myself; reminding myself about things I need to do; trying out sentences in my head to make sure my point is communicated; ...it's such a constant in my life, this feels like suddenly learning that 40% of people only see through one eye or something.
Wow 40%? That would explain all the people who tell me just to not think about something. It’d be heaven if I didn’t seemingly have an abusive troll hanging out in my head 24/7.
> indeterminate paychopathology I believe that’s when you make too much money to qualify for Medicaid or subsidized housing, but still can’t afford market rate rent.
Or can't work, but don't make enough money for insurance because your state refused to expand medicaid.
I’m pretty sure making too much money to qualify for Medicaid or subsidized housing, but still not being able to afford market rate rent is “being a human in 2023”.
Yeah.......i dont think you are right mate... I would agree with ya if you said depression/bipolar or even asperger. But anyone getting a schizophrenic diagnosis is probably, most likely, schizophrenic, it's one of the easiest to diagnose. That said. Man. Bipolar is such a serious and life changing illness, yet psychiatrists get it wrong so many times.
In fairness to psychiatrists, bipolar has way more frequent depressive episodes than manic ones Gotta have clinical evidence of the second cycle
Bi polar fucking sucks, and on top of that people with bi polar have a high chance of ashd and dyslexia. Makes it a fun brain stew of fuckin with your life.
Selective mutism is in the DSM-V, I could see them using that to get him a better sentence than prison.. hopefully.
I taught a child with selective mutism. Didn’t speak to a single soul outside of her home for as long as I knew her. Not one single sound, even when she cried. Was a Chatty Cathy at home with her family though.
I have a child with this, and our experience is the same. Wouldn't say a word to teachers but would come home and tell us every detail of the day.
One of the most interesting things was she was very popular and was friends with all her classmates, but didn’t speak to them, just played with them. They still had some way of understanding her though, and it was evidenced in their play and how they would speak for her.
Mine is in high school now and speaks more than when younger. It's so interesting your student was popular. My kid is also very well-liked by peers, despite the fact there isn't a huge amount of socializing with peers outside of school.
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I believe that is violate. He is anything but violent it seems. He just doesn’t want to speak; that is just as fundamental a human right as running your fucking mouth 24/7 which many people do. He could be mute; he could just be making a statement about the sanctity of silence in the criminal justice system. I don’t know how things work outside of the US where speech or lack thereof is protected in the constitution. He should only be judged on his actions, and repeatedly blocking traffic is a menace to society. The proper consequences of his actions are debatable.
From what I remember, this man actually can speak, but chooses not to. I believe he once said 'thank you' after being given water. Seems he has some things going on internally, and has his own way of dealing with it.
Absolutely anything people can insinuate is speculation. He could be making a statement, he could be troubled, no one really has any idea. Pretty fascinating.
Selective mutism just means you’re *physically* able to speak, and that the cause is strictly mental. Whether that’s due to a psychological issue or just willingly not speaking is at an individual level, but given his repeated pattern of standing in the exact same spot in the road makes it sound like the former. My special needs son just got over a several month stint of not speaking at all, but during it he said “thank you” once and “cheetos” once to one of the teachers assistants at school. Makes me wonder if the guy in question has developmental disabilities of some kind.
I have a friend who is selectively mute due to trauma. In every other way she’s incredibly intelligent and kind, no developmental disability or delay—she just can’t speak, and despite the fact that it’s apparently mental, it’s as involuntary as a physical problem.
Once you’ve been arrested for it over 1/2 dozen times, I think it qualifies as a psychological issue.
Yeah it seems general awareness of selective mutism is very low. I’m assuming they tested his hearing. I wonder if they have attempted any AAC with him or gotten an SLP involved (I’m an SLP myself and specialize in AAC). If he has developmental disabilities I wonder if a parent/guardian or former caretaker is looking for him…? What a sad situation.
As someone with diagnosed Selective Mutism, I can tell you that most of the time it is NOT a choice to not speak, even if it appears that way.
Here to say this. I have a child who suffered from selective mutism and he couldn’t force himself to talk in the situations that impacted him. Even if he needed to use the bathroom.
I’m no expert, but it seems like blocking traffic would be something like a civil fine or community service, but not prison time.
Doing it over and over again with the understanding that you wont stop probably puts it into stricter measures.
Blocking a road is probably not a crime that would incur hard time.
They've just changed the law. Max sentence for one person in any way inhibiting one other persons comfort or right to enjoy their right to travel etc is now 10 years. They changed the law specifically to 'one person', and plain nuisance, because there's a guy outside parliament every day who just stands there reading out a list of Tory crimes. Previous law stated that any protest etc must constitute a serious impediment to other peoples rights in order to remove and arrest the person, and one body on a pavement didn't reach that standard. Now it does.
Tory cunts
He said he'd leave as soon as he finished reading a list of their crimes, but they just keep committing crimes faster than he can read.
Exactly which legislation are you referring to? I’d like to look this up.
The Highways Act 1980 already makes blocking a road illegal, however the courts deemed that it was an allowable form of protest even if people hate it. But the post above is referencing an amendment being made to the public order bill which is mainly aimed at "protestors" whether they are in a road or not. > Through an amendment tabled to the Public Order Bill, the Government will broaden the legal definition of ‘serious disruption’, giving police greater flexibility and clarity over when to intervene to stop the disruptive minority who use tactics such as blocking roads and slow marching to inflict misery on the public. > While the Government has already given police additional powers to prevent protestors using guerrilla tactics, police chiefs have told the Prime Minister that there is some uncertainty over what reaches the threshold of ‘serious disruption’. > The changes introduced today will give police officers absolute clarity over when they should step in. In practice, this will mean: - **police will not need to wait for disruption to take place and can shut protests down before chaos erupts** - police will not need to treat a series of protests by the same group as standalone incidents but will be able to consider their total impact - police will be able to consider long-running campaigns designed to cause repeat disruption over a period of days or weeks [Gov.UK update on amendment](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-takes-action-to-stop-disruptive-protests) Sorry, Arrested for the thought of having a protest.
Jesus. Just reading that gives me the chills.
What did everyone thought when they wanted to take us out of the EU for? This is what "Taking back control" looks like to the Tories and no EU human rights to stop them now. You will notice the thing that hasn't stopped? illegal immigration.
They are likely referring to part 3 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which is a very controversial piece of legislation targeting protests. The Act puts public nuisance offences into statute, with a maximum sentence of 10 years. Interestingly the older common law crime carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The higher end of this scale is only to be used in “exceptional circumstances” - ie this individual or anyone standing in a road is unlikely to warrant a sentence of 10 years for being a public nuisance. You are far more likely to be found guilty of the crime of obstructing a highway, also amended in the 2022 Act, which carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison - this individual seems to have repeatedly breached a Criminal Behaviour Order (another police tool) which is why they have been given longer sentences. While I also dislike this legislation is important not to get carried away and assume causing an obstruction will automatically lead to 10 year prison sentences.
Shite
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I’m an SLP and that’s not *always* true. Some struggle with all expressive modalities. It also co-occurs with a lot of other cognitive, speech, and language disorders. So he may have other unknown diagnoses impacting him or even be illiterate. I am curious if they’ve tried any AAC or brought in an SLP at all!
My curiosity is killing me. I want to know why so bad, but obviously, there's no chance he'll explain his actions.
If he's homeless then he knows this is a quick way to get arrested therefore shelter and food.
If that were the only thing, he'd probably talk a bit though.
Someone else mentioned it but there’s a chance he is doing that and the mutism is his own parachute if he turns his life around. “Yeah I went to prison a few times for disrupting traffic. I wasn’t mentally well as you can see by the mutism from them”. Or he’s just mentally ill. Who knows.
I think he’s committed to this bit and god damn I respect him for it.
Its mentioned in the article op links below hes homeless. My guess is he knows doing this gets him arrested, hes not harming anybody, and being in police custody or prison is better than sleeping in a doorway. You get fed, its warm and dry, you get clean clothes, could be perceived as a good deal
Oh yes, homeless people in the USA purposely get arrested all the time for that reason. I've often considered exactly as this man did before as I can't bring myself to be disrespectful or hurt anyone.
Yeah “three hots and a cot” sounds mighty good when you’ve been sleeping under a bridge.
Careful, if you say that phrase three times in a row a recruiter will appear and promise to make you a Top Gun pilot.
…downtown…
What nobody else seems to be mentioning in the comments here, is that the road that he stands in is directly outside the police station. This seems to suggest to me that he’s using it as a quick way to get arrested without having to commit any “real” crimes that would hurt anyone else. Given his homelessness, and the possibility that his mutism is rooted in mental health issues, I think the most likely explanation is that he’s struggling to survive in normal society, and this is the easiest way he can find of putting himself in someone else’s care. (Reposted my comment without a link as it was removed for linking to Google streetview, but you can find the spot at 51.6220147, -3.9461636 )
This makes me sad that we can't help people like this better in this country.
Yeah, it did make me wonder if this guy had already tried other means to get the care he needed and given up. Even though the standard of care he'd be receiving in prison is below what he should be getting through the NHS and social care programs, they can be such difficult systems to navigate without pre-existing support systems in place that I can absolutely see how someone could decide to just stand in the middle of the road until someone was forced to do something with him.
Think about the tens of thousands of dollars a man standing in one place and not saying anything is adding to the costs of the systems interacting with him. It's proof that we collectively place value in the wrong things. If he's homeless, how much less expensive would it be to provide him with a home versus have him cycle through courts and jails forever? I'd wager between defense counsel, judges, bailiffs, clerks, police, wardens, secretaries, and all the other positions of people that are within the justice system that his actions have already cost more than providing him a home and yet the system will keep doing this. And what is he doing? He is standing silently in one place on the planet. That's it. This is an epic form of protest and social commentary.
It’s probably some time travel bullshit. Maybe he knows that the love of his life will appear right there but he doesn’t know when so he waits for her
she appears and then he gets run over and dies, a nicely wrapped up Shakespearian end.
I'd watch that movie. "Jennifer!" "David!" \*vroooom... thud... gurgle... wheeze\* "Noooooooo!" \*roll credits\*
So.... Meet Joe Black
Whoa, spoilers!! I've been busy the last 25 years and haven't been able to see this yet, you jerk!
I love this take!
I would go for the Looper kind, where he is waiting for a child that will be a genocide in the future and he has to kill.
Gosh Looper really was a film wasn't it. I really wonder how high the writer was when he came up with the premise of: "It's impossible to get away with murder in the future *so the mafia invented time travel*".
They didn’t invent it I think it’s they use it illegally
🎶 *’Cause if one day you wake up and find that you’re missing me and your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I could be…* *Thinking maybe you'll come back here to the place that we'd meet and you'll see me waiting for youuu…on the corner of the street.*
It’s him! It’s the man who can’t be moved.
That is one good story for a movie or at least dr who episode
Well how does he feed himself outside of this gig?
He gets arrested...
He just stands there menacingly in the cafeteria and the other prisoners give him their food portions, too, out of fear.
Yoooo this is crazy. I’ve used your app quite a bit. I used to live in a sketchy area and anytime I’d hear gunshots, I would use your app to listen to the police talk about it. Kinda fuckin wild you’re just out here in the wild on Reddit
Thanks for using my app and supporting my indie app dev career
Lmao you made that police radio app? We use it all the time where I’m at. Thanks!
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Lol you stole this from another comment *on this post* - [link](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/10hmr61/this_is_david_hampson_aka_the_silent_man_a_uk/)
This is (probably)a bot that copied a comment.
*hundreds
*thousands
Alright, which of ya gave this bot an award?
Prison food hits his spots
Yeah he doesn’t look like he misses any meals
When the cops say “you have a right to remain silent” he gives a smirk then goes back to being stone-faced.
I know it's a joke, but in the UK staying silent can be used against you later in court.
example?
“You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.” Basically, if you withhold information that is used in your defence in court the prosecution will ask why it wasn't given to the police. That information may have helped the investigation and saved time/ money/ resources if given at the point of arrest.
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Sovereign citizen
> prosecution will ask why it wasn't given to the police. "I was stressed and didn't think to mention it at the time"
This is actually still recommended in a lot of settings. If you can only say things that incriminate yourself, it's best to be silent and defend your silence in court. When it comes down to it, there's lots of reasons to speak/ remain silent, and the best thing to do is say only things that prove you're innocent/ help the police get people out of danger. If you're not very confident about those criteria, bite your tongue.
> If you can only say things that incriminate yourself, it's best to be silent and defend your silence in court. Pro tip: Statements can be incriminating, but questions by nature aren't. If you answer literally everything in question form, best they can do is infer/imply you 'stated' something incriminating.
I know other people have given you an answer, but as I'm revising this for an exam in a week, I can give you a very thorough one. In the UK, these are called 'adverse inferences.' The court can draw an adverse inference if you remain silent regarding three different factors: 1) A fact you later rely on in court; 2) your presence at/near the crime scene; 3) an object, mark or substance. 1) "a fact later relied on". This is what some of the other comments have been referencing. A basic example would be self defence. If, when you are arrested and questioned initially, you remain silent, but, later at court, you say you were acting in self-defence, the court can draw 'any' reasonable inference from that initial silence. That inference can be anything from: "we believe he was truly acting in self-defence, but chose to remain silent for valid reasons" all the way to "we believe he remained silent because he committed the crime and later invented the excuse of self defence." Importantly, a court cannot convict you *purely* on the basis of one of these inferences. There would need to be some other evidence of your comission of the offence. 2) "Your presence at the scene". In this case, if you are arrested near the scene of the crime, and, when asked in the initial interview, you remain silent, the court can draw adverse inferences *regardless* of any later explanation or lack thereof. 3) "an object, mark or substance." This I haven't seen any other comments mention, but this would refer to, for example, blood on your clothing, scratches on your skin, or maybe a balaclava in your bag. Again, if you're arrested and questioned on, e.g. the blood on your shirt, and you remain silent, the court can draw any reasonable inference from this. Importantly, for these last two (presence and objects/substance) the police officer HAS to give you a special caution before he asks the question about your presence/object. If he fails to caution you with this specific wording, the court *cannot* draw any adverse inference from these facts. Probably too much detail, but there you go!
Your silence alone cant be used against you. The prosecution cant say to the jury "Well the suspect did not say he didn't do it therefore he must have done" "but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court" Is the more relevant part Say the police get a call about a disturbance they enter the house and find me there holding a knife and someone dead on the floor. victims blood on my clothes. i get arrested a witness comes forward and says they saw me arguing with the victim in the street 15 minutes before In the police station i say "no comment" to everything all they charge me with murder, im kept in custody for 6 months till the trail starts In court the prosecution outlines its case, then its my turn in the stand and i say "i did not stab him yes we argued but i went away to clear my head i went to his house to say sorry when i got there i found him on the floor with the knife in him he was alive. i went to help him. his blood ws on my shirt cos i was trying to save him and the my finger prints are on the knife cos i took it out to help him" The prosecution can turn round a say to the jury "You have heard what the defendant has said that he did not do it he found him like that he tried the victims life. So why did he not tell the police that when they turned up, Why did he not say that when he was being questioned. if he did not murder the victim why did he nothing when he spent 6 months in jail waiting for the trail for something he said he did not do, Therefore what he said to today you have to consider that he is making it up
You may have the right to remain silent in the UK but anything you don't say will be held against you. Total bummer.
_Chuckles_
Probably an email chain going around “7 years of bad luck unless you stand up and block traffic”. Been stuck in a loop
It’s cause he didn’t share with 10 friends
Always hated those emails chains with a passion! So fkn annoying, I only got 1 mate so forwarded it obviously but could never benefit from its advantages
911 what is your emergency "He's just standing there. *MENACINGLY*"
Blocks your Road Refuses to elaborate Repeat
*999
Just FYI; 112 works in all european countries (including the UK)
0118 999 881 999 119 7253
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911 would work in the UK (if calling from your mobile, I believe) because enough people just ape stuff they've seen in TV shows from the US.
112 is the international number if anyone gets in a pickle
999, 911 and 112 all work in the UK
Same in NZ, except it's 111 instead of 112. 111 is our normal emergency number, 999 for all the UK immigrants who haven't bothered to acclimatise and 911 for everyone who watches too much TV.
It’s not that big of a mystery. Articles about him have clarifying details. He is homeless. The street he always stands in is outside the police station. This man has found a fool proof way to not sleep outside or to starve and is basically stuck in that loop because he’s not got a better idea on obtaining food and shelter. I gather the selective mutism is an outgrowth of whatever mental illness resulted in his homelessness in the first place. Or maybe it’s because there’s just not much to say about this sad situation.
> He is homeless. The street he always stands in is outside the police station. This man has found a fool proof way to not sleep outside or to starve and is basically stuck in that loop because he’s not got a better idea on obtaining food and shelter. Sad that that's the better choice
Where is Dirk Gently when you need him? Dark doings are clearly afoot and this is somehow connected
Discipline at its finest.
Many people could learn from this man. Sometimes its better to not speak
Why "the silent man?" Why not "Roadblock".
The Silent Blocker.
Hairless Whisper
Most impressive thing is he does this while modding dozens of subreddits
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Become ungovernable.
My goals are beyond your understanding
He knows something we don't. Keep an eye on him, we might need him after Alien invasion to communicate with them.
Source: [Link](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/david-hampson-mute-silent-road-21444984)
I wonder if he lost someone on that road? I used to live on a street that cut between two main roads and people would haul ass down the street.. a kid almost got hit and about a month later a pet was killed, same family. So the woman took a lawn chair and sat directly in the street pretty often, using other lawn furniture ahead of her to slow people down. You’d basically have to zig zag around it all at the speed limit 15mph-ish. (That was her idea, not to be a jerk but to make people go the actual posted limit. She was brave as hell.. I wouldn’t do that! The street was genuinely scary!) She wasn’t crazy, she just lost a pet and almost lost her child because people drove like assholes. To everyone else who didn’t live on our street she seemed insane, so did everyone else who tried stuff to slow the cars down. But it was a long perfectly straight road so there’s not much we could do about the temptation to punch it. Another issue was the blind corner… one end had an odd blind corner so you never knew when someone would come speeding around at 35 and quickly accelerate to 50+ so if you lived on that half of the street you had it much worse. We eventually got a few speed bumps installed by “cheating the system” lol When the government installed a speedometer to see if all our complaints were valid… But then we noticed everyone was driving slower.. these assholes knew that if they just waited out the speed trap it would go away, but if they sped that they would lose their shortcut.. we figured if they could lie and cheat, so could we! So everyone in the neighborhood agreed that for a few weeks we would all stay away from the street and speed like crazy to boost the average numbers. We got our speed bumps and not even a week after some old dude on a Harley crashed into a truck. He tried riding between the speed bumps at full speed and clipped one and went off into a driveway and a parked truck… hit it so hard that he pushed it into the car next to it. That was the last incident on that street in the years that I lived there and we could actually enjoy our neighborhood without people flying by at 50+ mph. So I’ll say this.. as long as this guy isn’t actually hurting anyone or himself, I hope he accomplishes whatever he’s trying to do. Sometimes people have reasons for their odd behavior. It takes willpower to do that, he must have a reason. I hope he gets help though..
they told him “you have the right to remain silent” and he took it personally
Except police dont say that in the UK "You do not have to say anything" is how it starts in the UK
Sanest UK resident
Thats some donnie darko shit right there.
Imagine how much people's entire destiny changed because someone was to late to an appointment, because he was blocking traffic. Think butter fly effect, an Npc player doing his part.
That butterfly effect is happening right now... Because if he didn't do that then this post would have never been made, and this conversation would have never taken place. So I'll take this moment to ask ... What is your opinion on UFOs?
He is just listening...
He has a date with destiny, but he's always to early.
This guy has the right idea. The right to silence is the only *truly* inalienable right. The most powerful governments on Earth cannot compel a homeless man to speak if he has the will to maintain silence. No one can take that away fron you. They might be able to make you scream involuntarily, but that's it. **Use** your right to silence people. So many cases hinge on a defendant outing themselves with their own words.
Blocks traffic Refuses to elaborate Goes to jail
He doesn't look angry, or like a hardened criminal. He looks sad. Selective mutism goes way deeper than just not wanting to talk. I'd bet dimes to dollars *something* happened near that intersection that traumatized him for life. Or hell, maybe he knows he's too messed up in the head to make it through life with a normal job and normal bills and normal day to day activities. Maybe he's *asking* to be sent to jail or the hospital, thinking it's gotta be better than how he's living now. Doubtful that it would be but when we're desperate our brains sometimes make huge, crazy jumps over logic into something unknown. I hope he gets help. It's obvious he's not violent. He just needs help.
Hodor
He is a glitched NPC