Wheelchair user takes message to the street

Daily American Republic

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A man who claims Poplar Bluff city sidewalks are not wheelchair accessible decided to take his argument to the streets.

When police arrived in response to a Saturday-morning call, Charles L. DeFrates, 48, of Branson, Mo., was wheeling down the westbound lane of Business U.S. 60 near Sixth Street while traffic carefully picked its way around him.

Officer Jessie Snow caught up with the slow-moving culprit at 9:37 a.m. and learned DeFrates was no stranger to street travel. Other officers have stopped DeFrates and warned him to take side streets rather than the heavily traveled roadways.

Undaunted by Snow, DeFrates said he was going to sue the city because he's unable to use the sidewalks.

Undaunted by DeFrates, the officer repeated previous warnings to stick to side streets.

Less than two hours later, police received another call about DeFrates. This time, they were told he was lying in the middle of Business 60 about a block from where Snow stopped him earlier. Apparently, DeFrates had been traveling eastbound in the westbound lane, but a police report didn't say how DeFrates and the wheelchair parted ways.

There would be no warning this time. DeFrates was arrested on suspicion of obstructing traffic flow and failure to obey a police officer. He was booked into the Butler County Jail but later released on a judge's order.