Dead man slapped with $42 parking ticket
August 26, 2010 by Shane BorerPosted in: Latest News, Oddly Enough
If the sign says “2-hour parking only,” you’d better move your car in time — whether you’re dead or alive.
A Seattle parking enforcement officer (PEO) proved that axiom when she gave a ticket to a man who had died in his car several hours earlier. The officer was on her morning rounds when she discovered a car that had gone over the 2-hour limit. She saw the driver in the car and assumed he was asleep.
A police representative explained the situation: “The PEO rapped on the window twice in an attempt to wake the man. When she was unsuccessful, she concluded that the individual was simply a sound sleeper. The PEO left the ticket on the windshield and continued her patrol.” Officials further defended the PEO’s actions, noting that officers commonly see people sleeping in the cars.
Nearly an hour after the $42 ticket was written, the deceased man’s girlfriend located the car via GPS and called 911. He was declared dead after reaching the hospital, and his ticket was later voided by the police department.
Tags: GPS, Parking ticket, Seattle
August 31st, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Seems to me an officer should do whatever they can to roust anybody inside the vehicle or at least confirm they are alive. Wake ‘em up! Get a response! Don’t assume they’re sleeping. Couldn’t they see if the person was breathing? Most living people’s chest will move in and out with breath. What if the person wasn’t dead but unconscious and dying?
September 1st, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Really, it seems to me the PEO should have called 911 when she couldn’t wake the man. What kind of training do these officers receive?
September 1st, 2010 at 3:23 pm
They probably get a 20-minute session on how to read meters, mark tires with chalk, and properly fill out a parking ticket. I’ll lay odds that there’s no training whatsoever on first aid or CPR. Remember, a PEO is probably just a step or two up from a minimum wage position. Yeah, they have uniforms and probably carry radios, but they’re not full-fledged cops. Don’t be too hard on the girl.