So I read the comments and it turns out that this guy starred in a film produced by Jimmy Kimmel where it was all a giant ruse. Everyone but Perry was in on it. Before I link that though, apparently the Cart Narcs found out about Perry's reputation to be a real life Bobcat Goldthwait character and they continued to poke the bear:
Anyway, so the film was " Windy City Heat" and its hilarious to what lengths they went to mess with this guy. They even got Bobcat Goldthwait to "direct".
After all that, they furthered the ruse years later by telling Perry that they were making a documentary of the film and his part would be played by Rosie O'Donnell. I actually felt bad for Rosie in this.
There is more out there but apparently the Cart Narcs hit gold when they found Perry not returning his cart.