Police lied on parking ticket. What to do?

[chemgirl]

So a bit flabbergasted here.

I have never had a parking ticket before. I parked on the street in front of a business, checked the signage to ensure I could park there, and then asked the business if the spot was reserved for any reason. Everything was totally fine.

When I returned to my car I had a ticket. Here's the crazy part: the ticket had the wrong street name on it and said parking in a no parking zone!!!

That street is nowhere near where I was parked.

Not sure what I should do? I asked the person I was meeting with to be a witness if necessary and I took pictures, but how will a judge know I didn't just move my car?

A coworker had something similar happen a few months ago. She parked in an area with a 2 hour maximum. She was there for 45 minutes and came back to a ticket saying she had been there for 3 hours! She was at work right before so I know she's telling the truth. Our boss wrote her a letter and she's fighting the ticket.

The amount is only $30, but it's the principal. Also a bit upsetting that this seems to be more common than it should be.

 

[kenny]

Write a letter that tells the truth.
I did, and won.

I got a ticket, in this case in the mail, for illegal parking on date X in city Y.
I called and told the truth that I and my car have never even been to city Y ... the truth.
(Also, my SO did not use my car and I never lend it out.)

The person said the police should have photo evidence supporting the ticket.
If the evidence does not support the citation it will be dropped.

A couple weeks later I got a letter saying the citation was dropped with a big legal disclaimer that this does not prove they made a mistake! Oh Friggin Please! Yeah Right!

If you know it's wrong challenge the ticket.
Demand proof.

For many cities parking tickets are a HUGE revenue source.
I think they write many bogus parking tickets assuming many people are too busy to stand up for what's true and just write them a check.

 

[NOYFB]

Definitely challenge it. I got a parking ticket for an expired meter once when there was clearly time left on the meter. It was only a $10 ticket, luckily. But there was no proof either way, so I had to pay it, unfortunately.

 

[chemgirl]

Thanks! Very good point re: fighting the ticket. I will call and explain what happened. I asked the girl at work and she sent me some information about paperwork I will need.

I get quite a bit of anxiety about this type of thing so I was panicked for no real reason.

Still upset that someone who is supposed to enforce the law would blatantly lie like that. The ticket was on my hood so the officer would have known where they were. The street on the ticket is at least a half hour drive away.

 

[packrat]

Fight it. Things happen. Doesn't mean it was done purposely.

 

[Rockinruby]

Another vote for fighting it. Especially since you have pics and a witness. I'm sure it happens periodically so hopefully they can correct it. Sorry this happened to you. This kind of thing would stress me out too!

 

[Gypsy]

Listen, I have recently had my eyes opened to fighting tickets. And it is worth it.

Do it.

 

[partgypsy]

We had something similar happen a few years ago. Parked near campus to the bulding we were visiting, no no parking sign nearby, and other people parked there. Coming back after a couple hours and we see our car is being hooked up for being towed away for being in a no-parking zone! Husband pointed out there was no sign, not to tow. Didn't matter, they were taking our vehicle (and we were with 2 small children). So, took ticket as well as photos of spot to police station, the ticket was dimissed. But despite showing to dismissed ticket to tower they would not release our car without paying $90. Seemed like a scam. Afterwards heard this was a problem in this town (Chapel Hill).

 

[ame]

Did you take photos? Like street signs, etc? Your phone will tag those. I would absolutely submit those.

 

[azstonie]

I feel ya on the anxiety aspect here. If this were me, I would go on record that a mistake was made, include the pics, and a statement from the people at your appointment who verify your whereabouts/date/time. Appear in person if required and have a friend go with you.

It's going to be okay, you can handle this.

 

[jordyonbass]

I can't speak for the US system, but here's a sneaky way I have learned to fight fines and get them canceled here in Aus from an old retired cop:

1. Contact whichever compliance service has issued the fine, raise a complaint against the department and advise that you are going to take them to court to fight the fine and be compensated for wasted time (sound affirmative but not aggressive here, as though you've done this before and it's become regular process to claim compensation from the courts).

2. Whenever the date for the hearing comes up from the compliance service, postpone it for an unknown date. And again when they give you a new date, and again when there's a new one on top. A court has to allow a defendant to be able to go about their daily life and cannot impede on it, doing otherwise then causes further opportunity to claim for compensation by the defendant - something the court doesn't want.
In order for me to show up to one of those court dates I would have needed the day off, my car, clean suit clothes, petrol money, not a late shift the day before, my mother needs to be at home and not need anything, cats fed - as you can see I have a number of variables that need to be met before I can show up at court

3. If you defer them more than twice they will generally cancel the fine as their revenue to re-schedule will quickly exceed the amount of money they can get from you (unlike consumers, they cannot claim compensation unless exceptioal circumstances). You probably won't get compensated but the fine will be thrown out.

I fought a parking fine and a toll fine doing this and it worked both times. Although the toll fine got thrown out quicker as it was for $50 and I said that I would be taking them to court and instantly charging them $1000 per day for missed work and lawyer fees. I think the reply saying the fine was canceled was sent within 10 minutes

With the discrepancies you've got and a witness then I would be taking this further for both fine cancelation and then threatening compensation claim reimbursement as the police have completely wasted your time. They may actually cancel it on the spot.

 

[telephone89]

Ive had this happen before - I parked in a 2h parking zone and paid, and got a ticket after I was inside for only 27m. On the ticket, they had written a time 3h in advance. All I had to do was call immediately and tell them what happened. I said I'm waiting at my car, you have the call time logged, I have a receipt that is still valid. I will not be paying this ticket. They obviously let it go.

You may find this informative (and funny) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UogpS1t-mUw