Update May 21, 2015

I received a letter from the City of Chicago saying the ticket was dismissed. Unfortunately, there was no mention of disciplining the officer, but at least I’m not on the hook for the ticket.

Original Post: March 15, 2015

I received a $100 parking ticket in Chicago the other day. However, I wasn’t parked illegally. I’m sure I’m one of thousands of people who have been hit with bogus parking tickets. However, the officer who did this isn’t as sneaky as he thinks he is. Maybe it’s a she, I don’t know. In any event, Officer Miles, ID #639, has presented false evidence.

Here’s the citation. I have obscured the full ticket number as well as my license plate.

Here is the picture of the sign that I was allegedly violating.  Officer Miles took this picture and attached it to my citation. Note the timestamp.

 

This is a picture that Officer Miles took of my license plate. Note the timestamp – 5 minutes and 10 seconds after the first picture.

For starters, these pictures prove nothing. They don’t prove that I was parked illegally, all they prove is that Officer Miles took a picture of a sign, and then 5 minutes and 10 seconds later took a picture of my license plate.

Here are the pictures I took when I found the ticket on my car. In this one, you can see my vehicle is clearly in front of the pole with a sign pointing to a tow zone in the other direction. If there was a parking restriction in effect, it seems that a great place to put the sign would be on the same pole that shows a parking restriction in the other direction.

Here’s a look at the other side of the pole. This proves that there is only 1 sign, the tow zone, and it’s pointing in the opposite direction. There is no sign showing a 9-6PM restriction.

Here’s a picture shooting up the street with my car on the left, right next to the tow zone pole. There are no other sign poles as far as you can see.

My final picture was taken right next to my passenger door. You can see much more clearly down the block – no signs – and you can also see the lampposts. They look nothing like the lamppost in the picture provided by Officer Miles.

 

I believe the officer falsified the ticket. He snapped a photograph of the parking restriction sign on another street, then snapped a picture of my vehicle more than 5 minutes later. I am contesting the ticket and hope the judge sees the evidence the same way I see it.