Charges dropped against man cited for helping plow neighbors’ driveways

POCATELLO — Charges against a Pocatello man who was cited for plowing his neighbors’ driveways have been dropped.

According to Pocatello police, Mitch Fisher was pushing snow into the street and was given a $206 ticket in January for depositing dangerous material on the road.

“I was just plowing the street,” Fisher tells KPVI. “I was pushing it all over to my side so they didn’t have the berm in front of their house.”

The City of Pocatello’s spokesperson Logan McDougall says, “It poses a safety hazard to the public and also the city and our employees as well. We actually had an incident earlier this winter where a city plow truck hit a pile of snow and ice… ultimately hitting a parked car.”

McDougall says the incident happened on December 16, 2016 on the corner of Benton and Johnson. The city employee hit a parked car and pushed it into another car and no injuries.

After a month and a half of fighting the citation, the charges against Fisher were dropped on Monday.

“The most I’ve ever had in my life is a traffic ticket and I hate to go down with a snow plowing charge right?” Fisher says in laughter.

The 58-year-old says he was helping the elderly widows in his neighborhood.

“The youngest one is 78-years-old, and they’re widows who just can’t do it,” Fisher adds. “People need to understand that we need to help our neighbors out.”

Thankful for the help from his pro bono Attorney, Fisher is glad it’s all over.

“I wasn’t putting anything in the roadway, and I tried to explain that to him. It didn’t work out that way. They all say they’re doing their job so I guess I gotta go with that,” Fisher says.

Although the charges were dismissed, Fisher still had to pay a bond forfeiture for $75.

The city says residents can still help their neighbors plow but they want them to throw the snow on their yard and not the road or sidewalk.