It was a Friday afternoon, July 26, and Austin Davis was leaving his Scottsdale apartment to get ice and water for a homeless outreach at a Tempe park, operated by the nonprofit AZ Hugs he founded. He had an uneasy feeling about a couple of cars that followed him as soon as he pulled away. He was, after all, no stranger to brushes with Tempe police over his continually staging these picnics for homeless people at Tempe parks, usually Papago or Mouer park, without a special-use permit.
He applied for one but was denied, largely because he did not comply with the city’s request to stop holding picnics for 60 days while his request was considered. He had been cited almost weekly since December. More recently, Tempe police began charging him with criminal trespass at the parks, a Class 3 misdemeanor.
Those were piling up, too, and Davis, 24, has been banished from all city parks. The red and blue flashers came on from the unmarked car following him. The officer called Davis by name, asking him to step out, and then arrested and handcuffed him.
The seven-month game of chicken had escalated to a new level. Tempe comes down hard Davis was taken to Tempe jail and booked. He spent the night.
Saturday morning, he was placed in chains around his ankles, waist and wrists, and taken before a Tempe Municipal Court judge. The prosecutor asked for $1,000 bail, calling Davis “a public nuisance.” After reading the probable-cause statement, the judge released Davis without bail with the p.