A Montgomery County District Court judge Tuesday threw out a $50 fine issued to an Olney man for picking raspberries in Wheaton Regional Park.
Greg Visscher, 29, said the judge dismissed the fine after examining the citation and determining it was unclear how Visscher could obtain a permit to pick the berries legally.
A Maryland-National Capital Park Police officer fined Visscher $50 in July after spotting him picking about a quart of berries in the county park, which is near where Visscher’s parents live in Kemp Mill. The citation was for destroying or interfering with parkland, a regulation that a Park Police spokesman said had long been on the books.
Visscher, who is president of the Montgomery County Young Republicans, said he contested the citation because he believed it was unnecessary.
“They need to focus on more important things or maybe change or clear up the regulations,” Visscher said. He was prepared to argue against the fine and took time off from work to go to court in Rockville. In the end, it took the judge about five minutes to dismiss the fine, he said.
“I’m blessed I could take off work to do it,” Visscher said.
