A police officer in Mamaroneck, New York, ticketed the mayor for driving while using her cell phone. A judge threw out the case so the officer went to the mayor's house and gave her a duplicate ticket. I like the officer's spunk, but I'm not sure that it will help his law enforcement career.
Here's the story from the Journal News in the Lower Hudson Valley.
The mayor's trial was held Sept. 15, and the the town prosecutor noted a clause in the law that said cell phones could be used in emergencies. The mayor claimed such an emerhemcy existed, and then the judge dismissed the ticket.
Mayor Kathleen Savolt's doorbell ran the evening the ticket was dismissed, and Officer Michael Petrillo was at the door. This is how the mayor described the encounter to the local newspaper:
"He said to me, 'I think the ticket was unfairly dismissed, so I'm issuing a duplicate ticket,'" she said. "So then, once I was issued a second ticket, clearly in some people's minds, it's not a legal ticket, because the case had been closed."
A court date for the duplicate ticket has not been scheduled. We'll let you know what happens when we get word.
I don't know... sounds very understandable. The law is supposed to apply to everyone in this country and more and more it is who you know rather than whether you are right or wrong. I think he is right and as a public official the mayor should pay the ticket, if only as an example to the public. She was going to pay it initially and it wasn't until after she found out there was a loophole that she used the "emergency" defense. Looks like she herself saw her guilt. Cops are supposed to uphold the law and they have more rules standing in their way doing what is right than criminals have in protecting their right to do wrong. I pat the officer on the back.
It happens far to often that an official gets preferential treatment and it is not right so I commend the officer for trying to uphold the law. It shows a total lack of respect for our officers and the job they are trying to do. Elected officials that get caught for drunk driving think they are above the law as well. I am sure she will get off on the 2nd ticket as well.
God Bless our police.
The Mayor should have paid the ticket in the first place. Now it's becoming a battle of wills and the price will be much higher.
And I am sure that it was not legal either. But I think it is a delightful human interest story. And probably typical New York. Like that funny commercial about the delivery people smashing a piano to pieces, gather them up in a Glad bag, and ask the owner "...where do you want the piano?"