Horton, Kansas, World War II veteran Kenneth Knudson was jailed the day after Christmas for a building code violation he could not afford to correct.
According to the Daily Mail, Knudson owns a jewelry store which “was cited for a code violation… after failing to produce a plan to fix a cracked exterior wall.”
The city offered to do the repairs for Knudson–at a fee of $10,000–but the WWII vet said he could not afford to pay that much. In the end, Knudson was found “in contempt of court” by Horton’s municipal court on December 23 and jailed on the 26th.
Knudson has owned his jewelry store for 30 years.
Horton Police Chief John Calhoon said he felt the situation “unfortunate” for Knudson. He added: “I didn’t like it that an elderly person had to spend the night in jail but we have to enforce the laws.”
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins
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