Refused by His City, Man Jailed for Painting a Crosswalk

Whitney Stump’s homemade crosswalk, as seen on Google Maps

Whitney Stump was tired of drivers ignoring stop signs at an intersection in his Muncie, Indiana neighborhood. After futile attempts to get the city to install crosswalks, Stump took matters into his own hands and painted one in at the corner of Dicks and North streets. Then he got arrested.

WRTV in Indianapolis reports:

Stump, a 27-year-old Ball State University graduate student and father,
says he was arrested in July on a charge of criminal mischief for
creating the crosswalk at the intersection of Dicks and North streets.
A police officer then warned him after he went back to touch up the
paint in August, and the county prosecutor decided to charge him again.

“If they’re not going to provide a safe environment for me and my community, then I believe I have a moral obligation,” Stump told 6News’ Ray Cortopassi on Wednesday.

Stump said he first asked the city to do the job, thinking crosswalks would get drivers’ attentions and make them aware they needed to slow down.

“I called the street and sign department probably a half-dozen times in the course of six months (to) a year,” he said.

The city of Muncie says the intersection in question doesn’t meet the criteria for crosswalk installation because it isn’t near a school.

Stump missed a court date after he was charged the second time, which led to a 10-hour jail stint. But he says he plans to paint in additional crosswalks at the other three spokes of Dicks and North.