SEATTLE -- A man who was given a $138 fine for warning drivers they were approaching a police speed trap won't have to pay the fine after all.



Daniel Gehlke appeared in court Wednesday to fight the ticket, but the Seattle Police officer didn't show. A judge then tossed the case.



Gehlke's made the handwritten sign "Cops Ahead! Stop at sign and light!" with a marker and a Rubbermaid top.



Normally holding a sign isn't an issue, but an officer came up and cited Gehlke, stating his sign was giving orders to driver -- the 'stop at sign and light.'



"The specific issue is that he was giving instructions to motorists through the words that he chose, like 'slow down' or 'caution,' " said Sgt. Sean Whitcomb, a spokesman for the Seattle Police Department. "That's exactly the issue. It's the words that give people orders referring traffic."



Gehlke disagreed.



"I am a believer that the Constitution, the Bill of Rights are there specifically so they can't be modified or restricted," Gehlke said in an interview with KOMO News after receiving the fine. "This clearly is not a stop sign."



Municipal code outlaws any sign or device "bearing any such words as 'danger,' 'stop,' 'slow,'" and more. "Directions likely to be construed as giving warning to or regulating traffic," it says.



Gehlke said he believed he was being targeted because of the content of the sign, not because of the crafting of the language. Still he says any future signs won't tell drivers to stop.