By ANDY GARDNER

OGDENSBURG -- A local man is spreading generosity by paying for strangers’ meals at local restaurants but recently was reported to police while performing an act of kindness.

On Sept. 23, a man came to Subway on Champlain Street and started paying for meals of every customer who came in.

“He was here for hours,” Tim Horton's Britney Murray said, who's store is in the same building. “He was a gentleman by all means. He wasn’t disrespectful or anything.”

She said his first name is Paul but wasn’t sure about his last name. She believes he is an Ogdensburg resident.

Around 1:40 p.m., someone reported the man to local police.

“There was a couple that thought it was awkward and weird that he was paying for everyone’s meal,” Murphy said.

City police said the caller “just wanted somebody to go check on him,” and he was fine and no charges were filed. The caller’s identity was not included in the call log, according to the city police dispatch.

Tim Horton’s is not the first place the man decided to pay for others’ meals. Murphy said she chatted with him for about 20 minutes and learned he sometimes does the same thing at The Place. A Facebook post from Sept. 23 says he was spotted at a local Pizza Hut a couple days earlier buying dinner for random strangers.

Murphy said she asked Paul why he does what he does.

“His exact words were ‘because he’s filthy rich and it makes him feel good about himself to help others,’” she said.

Murphy said she and her Tim Horton’s staff were happy with Paul’s presence in their eatery and they gave him a free cup of coffee.

“I respect him. I respect what he did,” she said.