EUGENE, Ore. -- The story of Ben Bond's confrontation with a meter maid that left him with more than $800 in tickets this week has many in the community offering to help pay them. Now, one man is hoping he can help Bond avoid them altogether.

KEZI 9 News has been flooded with calls and e-mails from residents supporting Bond. There have even been calls to set up a fund that would help him pay the fines he received, but Bond may not need any of it. A lawyer has offered to take his case for free.

Attorney Bill Wiswall says in his 40-plus year career, he's only taken one other case on for free. Wiswall represented Eugene golfer, Casey Martin, in a lawsuit against the PGA tour for the right to use a cart for his disability. Now, he's taking on someone who wasn't well known at all until Wednesday: Ben Bond.

"It just suprised me, the way this was handled, and I decided to get involved," said Wiswall.

Bond was ticketed for harassment and obstruction of justice after a confrontation with a parking control officer that began when he tried to plug an expired meter next to his as the officer was issuing it a ticket.

Several witnesses corroborate Bond's story, saying he did nothing to get in the officer's way. One witness said the officer didn't call the police until Bond started plugging other peoples' meters. Three Eugene Police officers arrived, cuffed Bond, and ticketed him.

"Perhaps there was maybe some overzealousness in this," said Wiswall.

Bond admits he used profanity when he confronted the parking enforcement officer from his truck, but he says he never threatened her in any way. "I really don't believe I broke the law at all," he said.

Wiswall says a large part of Bond's argument is the way he was treated by Eugene Police, who called for back-up. "If there was going to be officer back-up, someone could have just come over and said, 'Hey, let this go,' and that would be the end of it."

Meanwhile, Bond says he can't thank everyone enough for the support he's receiving. "I really don't have the money to hire an attorney at the moment so it helps out immensely," said Bond. "A huge thank you to everyone that's helped. And that's the most important thing to me right now is thanking everyone who is helping."

Bond's arraignment is set for January 28th, and Wiswall says he expects the case to be dismissed.

More witnesses who saw at least part of the interaction between Bond and the parking enforcement officer are speaking out.

While no witnesses to the initial interaction near the post office at 5th and Willamette have come forward, two others tell us they saw Bond and the parking employee interacting in front of the Fifth Street Public Market. The witnesses say Bond was at first inside his truck, and the parking officer as on foot about to ticket a car.

One witness, Bill Deptuch, didn't want to go on camera, but did speak to KEZI 9 News on the phone. He could see the incident from his office. Deptuch says he gave a statement to police about what he saw, but it's unclear if he is the witness police interviewed to corroborate the parking official's story. Deptuch says he didn't see Bond hindering the employee from doing her job.

"What I noticed was the truck in the oncoming lane. And that's what caught my attention, and she actually walked up to the truck and they started to talk. It didn't seem like any agitation either way, and then he just pulled forward and parked in the meter two spaces up, got out and started putting money in them. So, I didn't see any confrontation. I didn't see him doing what they said," said Deptuch.

Brendan Mehaney, another witness said, "Some of what he was saying through the driver's window and also just on the street, kind of at a distance but maybe 10, 15 feet away from her. He didn't seem to be in front of her or stopping her but it might have happened anyway."

Mehaney owns a restaurant across the street from the incident. He was not interviewed by police.

On Thursday, the city sent out a statement which said a witness reported seeing Ben Bond red-faced and animated, yelling and gesturing towards the parking official from his truck.

Neither of the witnesses who spoke to KEZI 9 News can confirm that. So, we asked EPD about where the statement came from -- that on the surface, either Deptuch's statements weren't used in the police report -- or if he is the same witness they're citing, where did those comments come from? Eugene Police said they are no longer talking about this until a judge makes a ruling.

Mayor Kitty Piercy weighed in on this case Thursday. On Friday, she clarified her view of the situation. She says it's now up to a judge to determine exactly how this incident unfolded on Wednesday.

However, when KEZI 9 News spoke to Piercy and City Councilor Mike Clark on Thursday, both indicated they were standing by the parking officer's version of events. At that point, neither had seen the police report, nor had they spoken to Bond.

"An employee doing her job was harassed and intimidated and felt so frightened for her well-being, so she had to call the police to help her out," said Mayor Piercy Thursday.

Piercy weighed in on the incident again, and she says her stance remains the same. "We do appreciate Good Samaritans. This is about what happened after that. This is not in my hands, and it's not my decision to make. I just want people to know that it's more complicated than it seems on the surface."

Piercy says she's learned additional details about what happened in this case, and now like EPD, she says it should be resolved in court.

Bond's story has been at the center of watercooler conversations all over the state.

On Friday morning, 104.7 KDUK radio host Chino says for the first two hours of his show, the KDUK studios were innundated with calls. Listeners have been appalled by the whole incident. For the most part, they are evenly split on the meter parking issue.

"I think a lot of the people are confused about why the fine is happening. Was it for the meter? Was it for the harrassment? And just pretty much the general thing of the cops showing up. Like three of them showing up for it and nobody getting cops when they get robbed? So it's kind of crazy," says Chino.

Chino says many of the callers repeatedly said incidents like this one could be avoided if the city would just get rid of parking meters all together.