Video showing U.C. Berkeley cop confiscating unpermitted hot dog vendor's cash goes viral

BERKELEY, Calif. (WPVI) -- A Cal grad is taking up a campaign that's gone viral after video was posted to Facebook that shows a U.C. Berkeley police officer confiscating money from a food vendor's wallet while citing him for operating without a permit.

The video has sparked so much outrage that there's even a push to get that officer fired.

The video was shot by Martin Flores as U.C. Berkeley police cited the food vendor after a Cal game.

The father of three studied policy at Cal and says he was outraged when he saw the officer pull money from the vendor's wallet.

Flores insists what happened crossed the line.

"You're gonna take his hard earned money?" Flores asked the officer during the incident.

U.C. Berkeley police confirmed the officer took the vendor's money and booked it into evidence.

The vendor, who goes by Juan, asked for the money back but was given a notice to appear in court instead.

"He chose this one vendor who was selling hot dogs; an individual who was probably vulnerable - an easy target," Flores said.

Flores posted the video on his Facebook page. It didn't take long before it was shared over 135,000 times.

Flores then started GoFundMe campaign to pay for Juan's legal defense.

The goal was $10,000. It's raised more than double that.

In the meantime, a separate online petition was started to have the officer in question removed from the department.

Click here to help support Juan on the GoFundMe page.