Cop Issues Mayor Duplicate Ticket After Judge Nixes First
Apparently unhappy that the mayor of village in New York’s Lower Hudson Valley was able to get a traffic ticket dismissed, the police officer rang the mayor’s doorbell and issued a duplicate.
The traffic saga for Mamaroneck Mayor Kathleen Savolt began in March, when police officer Michael Petrillo ticketed her for talking on a cell phone while driving.
Savolt challenged the ticket, using an exception to the law.
“I was going to pay the ticket, but I was advised by the people here in the village that as I was an official, there was a clause in the law that said if there was an emergency or if I thought there was an emergency, I could use the phone,” Savolt told the Journal News.
The ticket was ultimately dismissed on Sept. 15 in a town court proceeding. But that night, according to the paper, Petrillo showed up at Savolt’s home and issued her a new ticket for the same offense.
“He said to me, ‘I think the ticket was unfairly dismissed, so I’m issuing a duplicate ticket,’” Savolt 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.”
Still, the second ticket is winding its way through the system, and Savolt says it could take another six months to resolve.
