Homeless, Shoe-less New York Man, From Viral Photo, Confirmed To Be A Con-Man

Two days ago, I reported how I believed the picture (above) of an NYPD cop buying a homeless man shoes, that went viral, to be a publicity stunt. (Was The Photo of an NYPD Officer Helping A Homeless Man A Publicity Stunt?)  I also noted how there were rumors that the homeless man in the picture, is a well known con artist in that area.  Today, the rumors of the homeless man were confirmed.

The New York Daily News is now reporting,

"sources unmasked the homeless man as 54-year-old Jeffery Hillman, a petty criminal who has been arrested nearly a dozen times since 1983. Most of his 11 collars are for drug possession, but others include criminal mischief and public lewdness.

A police source said Hillman is often seen strolling barefoot in the area and suspect it’s part of a scam to squeeze donations from tourists. Hillman, who last lived in a Harlem YMCA in April, could not be reached Friday for comment."

On Friday, I reported on the man:

How about the homeless man?  What is his story.  Well one website is claiming that this "bum" is a well known con man in that area, and claims "The guy sits around, as homeless people tend to do, only he's shoeless. All day long, unassuming good Samaritans and tourists buy him socks and fresh kicks. Then, after the do-gooder walks away—feeling like Johnny Philanthropist—the homeless dude takes the socks and shoes back off, stuffs them in his bag that's BRIMMING with other shoes, and begs for more. He then go on to tell me that this goes on EVERY DAY."  The website even posts a picture of a man with no shoes, who they claim is probably the same guy, shortly after this whole incident.  

Now we just have to sit back and wait for the rest of the story to be a confirmed hoax, because while The New York Daily News still reports the police officers act of kindness to be authentic, I believe otherwise.

(UPDATE: The New York Times found this man, still shoe-less, and he now says he wants "a piece of the pie" because the photo was posted online "without permission."  Also, The New York Daily News now finds that the homeless man is actually not homeless at all. For the past year, Jeffrey Hillman has had an apartment in the Bronx paid for through a combination of federal section eight rent vouchers and Social Security disability and veterans benefits)

Was The Photo of an NYPD Officer Helping A Homeless Man A Publicity Stunt?

This photo has gone viral, and has made front page news all over the country.  We are told this is a photo of an NYPD police officer who had just given a shoe-less, homeless man a new pair of boots.  We are also told that this photo was taken by a tourist from Arizona, visiting Times Square, who just happened to capture the apparent act of generosity on camera, and then sent the picture to the NYPD, who posted the picture on their Facebook page.

While watching the various news video interviews of Officer Larry Deprimo, the police officer in the picture, I noticed a few interesting things about this whole story.  First, in the different interviews conducted, Officer Deprimo always has a new part of the story, that makes this story seem more and more "movie-like".  In one interview Deprimo claims he heard people laughing at the homeless man with no shoes, and that prompted him to go into a shoe store and tell the clerk, "I don't care about the price, gimmie whatever it is, that you have the best of!"  In another interview Officer Deprimo talks about how he had two pairs of socks on, combat boots, and his feet were still freezing, which made him feel more sympathy for the shoe-less, homeless man.  Deprimo also claims to have, afterward, offered the homeless man to come and "grab a cup coffee" or get "something to eat", to which the homeless man supposedly declined, and replied with "I love the police."  Also, the lady who took the picture, claims that the officer didn't see her taking the picture, and she just snapped the flick and left.  She says she didn't say anything to the officer, but still managed to get the picture to the NYPD.  If you were writing a script, it couldn't come out much better than this. 

Now let's examine the facts.