A local guitarist was arrested then ticketed for causing a safety hazard after his patriotic performance of the national anthem in Neptune Beach.
A crowd of 300 people gathered along First Street to hear Lane Pittman play his guitar on the Fourth of July.
The problem started when Pittman first began playing in the street. He says officers gave him permission to keep playing but on the sidewalk.
Neptune Beach Police Chief David Sembach says it simply wasn't safe that his officers really gave Pittman a warning.
"They told him he was going to have to stop playing because his playing was blocking the street to vehicles."
Police allowed Pittman to finish out of respect for the national anthem, but the crowd then turned on officers.
Pittman says that's not what he wanted, and he hopes a lesson is learned by all.
"This was not an act of defiance by any means. My parents raised me to know that if a cop tells you to do something, you do it, but I believe they told me it was OK. I would have never have kept playing if they told me not to."
Police have no plans to drop the charge. Pittman has hired an attorney and the state’s attorney office is investigating the case.