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Apopka woman gets 3 red-light camera tickets after car stolen

APOPKA, Fla. — A woman got three red-light camera tickets in the mail after her car was stolen and said she’s now in the middle of a long fight to get the citations tossed out.

Edith Montanez’s first two tickets came from a camera at U.S. 441 and Piedmont Wekiwa Road days after her car was stolen.

Montanez said she wasn’t driving the car and neither was her niece, whom she bought the car for.

She has a police report to prove the car was stolen on Aug. 14.

“The insurance paid for the car and everything was taken care of, so we thought,” she said.

With the first ticket, the driver allegedly sped through the intersection. A week later, the driver got more reckless and made a left turn from the far right lane when the light was red.

“It feels like there is no end to the story,” Montanez said.

In total, the culprit racked up more than $450 in red-light camera fines since the car was stolen three weeks ago.

Montanez shouldn’t be liable for having to pay the citations, but traffic attorney Brian Sandor said getting out of the tickets is up to the victim to prove to the police and a judge that her car was stolen.

“In this kind of case, she would have to prove that, in fact, her car was stolen. A police report stating that or reporting her license plate stolen as well, not just the car,” Sandor said.

Montanez hopes police catch the culprit before anyone gets hurt.

Apopka police told her they’re putting out an alert to all officers to keep an eye out for the stolen car.