WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — A Winter Garden man called Channel 9 after Fort Lauderdale police wrote him a ticket for his scooter blocking traffic.
The problem is, Don Thomas has never been to Fort Lauderdale and was at work in central Florida at the time.
Channel 9's Racquel Asa looked into how the mistake happened.
Thomas said he got the Vespa as something fun for himself and his wife. Lately, he said, it has been sitting in his driveway, because it's been too cold to ride.
But not according to Fort Lauderdale Traffic Enforcement. Officers said Thomas' Vespa was parked in the road for four days last month, so they ticketed Thomas.
Fort Lauderdale is 237 miles from Orlando, and Thomas said his Vespa has only 440 total on it.
The ticket was written on Dec. 17, while Thomas was at work in central Florida.
"It has the exact decal and the exact license plate number on it, so I just thought it was a scam," he said. "I called them and found out it wasn't a scam."
What puzzles Thomas is how an officer could write a ticket with his correct tag if he was never there.
Asa called the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to find out if there is a duplicate tag out there. The department said it would look into it.
Fort Lauderdale Parking Enforcement told Channel 9 that it couldn't forgive the ticket over phone and that Thomas will need to appeal the $37 ticket online or before a judge.
If Thomas doesn't pay the ticket or get it thrown out, the fine will jump to $70, Channel 9 learned.
WFTV
