With Spring revving up into high gear and the pollen flowing freely in the Atlanta air, just about everyone is sniffling and sneezing but who knew blowing your nose could get you locked down?!?

I’m almost certain Alfred Murphy didn’t. Murphy’s runny nose is the cause of him sitting in jail right now on a slew of charges.

Seriously!

Murphy was arrested yesterday at an Atlanta public rail station after using a few “government issued” paper towels to blow his nose.

That act and the actions that followed got Murphy a one way ticket to Fulton County Jail.

Murphy, suffering from a runny nose, took paper towels from a maintenance cart at the Ashby Street MARTA (Metro Atlanta Transit Authority) station…. MARTA police got involved and things spiraled way out of control!

Murphy and another man walked up to one of the maintenance carts at the MARTA station Monday afternoon and Murphy grabbed some paper towels from the cart and began blowing his nose.

A MARTA police officer saw Murphy and told him he couldn?t take the paper towels because “they didn?t belong to him”, a police report said.

Instead of putting the mucus soaked paper back on the cart, Murphy continued to utilize the paper towels from the cart to blow his nose and the officer again told him to stop.

Murphy told the officer that his MARTA fare entitled him to the items on the cart, which is when the officer asked Murphy to leave.

Murphy instead went to a MARTA police phone and according to the police report, ?began to make incoherent statements about being assaulted and officers trying to kill him.?

The MARTA police officer called for assistance and a struggle ensued.

According to the police report recovered by the AJC, Murphy ?then became violent and began to struggle while holding on to the telephone receiver.?? He hit one officer in the face, cutting part of his forehead and area under his right eye.

Murphy also punched the other officer in the nose, causing it to bleed.? Officers arrested Murphy and discovered he was on already on probation for unrelated charges.

He was booked in the Fulton County Jail around 2 a.m. on two charges of battery, obstruction and hindering of a law enforcement officer and criminal trespassing and he remains in jail as I type.

MARTA spokesman Lyle Harris said the officers did not use excessive force in dealing with Murphy but that black eye on that mugshot tells somewhat of a different story.

Harris states:

The incident in question, which includes charges of battery against a police officer, is a criminal matter that will ultimately be decided in the courts. We haven?t received any complaints about the use of excessive force in this case. If we do, we would investigate it thoroughly.

MARTA officers aggressively patrol our stations, facilities and vehicles, and are required to use their best judgment and discretion at all times.

And the moral of this story is…? it’s almost illegal to use MARTA paper towels to blow your dayum nose! *sigh*