Two Clarksville panhandlers were arrested after allegedly attacking and robbing a woman who gave them money.
The woman was recovering in the hospital on Tuesday when the men were arrested. She gave the pair some cash, but apparently they decided it wasn't enough.
"They come up and say hey, they give some hard luck story and sometimes it's real sometimes it's not," said Jim Knoll, Clarksville Police Department.
It's not unusual for someone to give to someone less fortunate, but sometimes that good deed comes at a cost. One Clarksville woman became the victim of two panhandlers scheme.
"There is nothing deemed illegal about asking people for money. Now they can't ask them aggressively, they can't put them in fear," said Knoll.
But according to police, that's exactly what the two panhandlers did. In fact, they took it a step further.
We're told Donald Stacy and Kendra McKee offered the woman a place to stay in their tent, and later that night the pair beat the 35-year-old woman, leaving her with severe injuries.
"It's just not safe to give out money like that, I don't think," said Susan Chapman, Loaves and Fishes, Executive Director.
The non-profit organization has been helping to feed people in need in Clarksville for more than 30 years.
Chapman says no one should ever go hungry, but there are other ways to help besides giving cash to strangers on the street.
"There's a lot of organizations I usually tell them to call crisis 211. If they want to get some help to figure out the best place for them to go to receive help," said Chapman.
And police agree, there may be better ways to give.. without putting yourself in danger.
"To say that it's safe, it may be safe but it's not necessarily the smartest thing to do," said Knoll.
There is an ordnance in place for panhandlers to follow, but it is not against the law for people to ask for money.
Police are reminding people to keep stranger danger in mind when being approached by panhandlers.
Stacy and McKee were spotted in Nashville. They are being held on a $175,000 bond, and were both charged with especially aggravated robbery.
