Government Law
Oops. Fooled By Fake No-Parking Signs, Police in Fla. Town Issue 233 Tickets
Posted May 28, 2009, 12:51 pm CST
By Martha Neil
The no-parking signs around a popular city restaurant looked legitimate, apparently even to police officers in Tarpon Springs, Fla. They reportedly issued 233 citations for "violations" of the seeming parking ban over a two-year period.
But the signs were actually fakes for which a local developer with a beef against the restaurant owner is now being blamed, writes the St. Petersburg Times.
Meanwhile, Tarpon Springs and the Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Courts are working together to quash any outstanding warrants for nonpayment that may have been issued, the newspaper recounts. It isn't clear whether those who paid the $20 tickets will be reimbursed—and, if so, by whom.
Although the no-parking signs were determined by Tarpon Springs to be fakes in 2007 and the developer was ordered to remove them, city code enforcement officials didn't follow-up to determine that they had all been taken down, the newspaper reports.
Comments not appearing after a few seconds? Try emptying your cache ("Temporary Internet files"), making sure Javascript is activated, and refresh this page.