Knoxville's 'Super Dave' nets 276th arrest in panhandling roundup

Knoxville police arrested "Super Dave" Martin for the 276th time on Friday during a sweep of aggressive panhandlers that removed nine people from busy street corners and along interstate exit ramps.

David Eugene Martin, 39, who lists a Badgett Avenue address, calls himself "Super Dave" and that moniker is well-known among the officers of the Knoxville Police Department. His antics have included urinating in front of customers and children in a business parking lot, passing out partially in a downtown street and sidewalk, entering vehicles of customers at drive-thru windows and refusing to exit and lying down in the parking lot of a fast food business to block traffic in order to solicit money, according to records.

His Knox County arrest history extends to 1997. Alcohol is involved in nearly all of his charges, including trying to rob people with a staple gun and forming his fingers into the shape of a handgun and "shooting" at people who ignored his pleas for money on roadways and in business parking lots, records show. Of his 276 arrests – which began with charges of underage consumption of alcohol – he has been found guilty 146 times.

Records show he has been arrested 69 times for criminal trespassing and convicted in 50 cases. Of his 79 arrests on public intoxication, he has been convicted in 44 instances. Officers charged him 26 times with obstructing a roadway and he was found guilty eight times. His 22 arrests on charges of disorderly conducted netted 10 convictions.

Read more: http://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/crime/2017/01/22/super-dave-nets-276th-arrest-panhandling-roundup/96907214/