The Chicago Tribune has a story about a car nearly getting towed out of a parking lot in the suburbs because local police thought it was stolen. Before the car got hooked up and towed away, the driver came back to the car and laid out a crazy story.

The driver, according to the newspaper account, reported this car stolen because the guy he sold it to was racking up tickets on it and he was trying to get the new owner to change the registration.

This story doesn’t make sense. Why would the driver be driving this vehicle if he sold this particular car to a friend?!? It’s all quite confusing.

Whatever the case, the Tinley Park Police bought this cock and bull story and let the man drive the car away without arresting or citing him. They say if he filed a false police report with the Chicago Police Department, it’s CPD’s problem, not theirs.

Read the whole Tribune story, “False report of stolen car filed to avoid parking tickets.”

Maybe others can make sense of this.

He was the gentleman who seemed to be the target of some sort of parking ticket vendetta perpetuated by one or more Chicago police officers back in 2007.

He kept on receiving violation notices from the city for parking tickets he never received, at places he never had been.

While he fought and won all the tickets, Geinosky filed complaints with the Chicago Police Department. Initially, the complaints went nowhere until the Chicago Tribune’s Jon Yates, the Problem Solver columnist, stepped in to shine a bright light on Geinosky’s plight.

Investigations finally took place. One cop quit, another lost his job over an unrelated issue, two others were disciplined and a fifth is serving in the military overseas.

But Geinosky also filed a federal lawsuit against the city for what he perceived to be a pattern of harassment. The lawsuit got tossed by a judge, but then reinstated on appeal.

Finally, after five years, Geinosky can put the entire matter behind him.

Because according to the Chicago Tribune, the city settled with Geinosky and agreed to pay him $85,000.

According to the story, Geinosky is frustrated he never found out why he was the target of the parking ticket attack, but is happy with the settlement.

Here’s the full story, “Problem Solver: Ticketgate ends in settlement.”

Traffic is expected to be up, law enforcement will be up and even gas prices are up.

And if motorists want to avoid spending the majority of their holiday stuck in traffic, two automobile related services are encouraging drivers to start their trips sooner than later.

Wednesday–The Great Escape

Not surprisingly, Wednesday is expected to be the busiest travel day of the Thanksgiving holiday.

AAA say 45% of all travelers plan on leaving Wednesday, with 36% planning on returning Sunday.

“All day Wednesday will be ‘get-away’ day with Sunday typically the return day,” says Steven Haas, veteran traffic reporter for News Radio 780. “It will probably be worse on Wednesday, with folks returning gradually, over the weekend.”

INRIX Traffic, which provides traffic information data, recently ranked Chicago fourth in their report of the nation’s busiest holiday traffic hot spots. INRIX suggests holiday travelers should hit the road no later than 2 PM.

AAA concurs with the 2 PM rule for a smoother, faster road trip. They say if you leave after 2 PM your trip will take an average 26% more time than if you left before that time.

More Cars On The Road

According to AAA, more cars will be traveling this year than last.

AAA projects 2.08 million Illinois residents will be traveling in 2012, a mild 0.6% increase over last year. Nationally, this is the fourth consecutive year of increased Thanksgiving holiday travel after a steep 25% decrease in travel nationally in 2008 when the recession was at its height.

“Thanksgiving travel hit a decade low in 2008 when only 37.8 million Americans traveled,” said AAA Chicago Regional President Brad Roeber. “Since that year we have seen a steady increase in the number of travelers taking to the roads and skies for the holiday. ”

AAA attributes the less than 1% increase in automobile travelers for the holidays to gas prices finally coming back down to somewhat normal prices and the economy a bit stronger.

Increased Traffic Enforcement

At a Tuesday morning press conference at the State of Illinois Building, Lt. Paul Riggio promised drivers the Illinois State Police will be out patrolling all state roads during the holiday and will be looking for drunk drivers and enforcing seat belt laws.

“We want to insure everyone reaches their final destination,” said Riggio. “Even one fatality is one too many to the ISP.”

Last year Riggio says the ISP made 171 DUI arrests, issued tickets to 2800 speeders, 850 safety belt violations, 40 distracted drivers and 57 instances of carrying open alcohol.

Also at the press conference, Sgt. Scott Slavin, said the Chicago Police Department is planning heavy enforcement as well this holiday.

“We will be out in full force this weekend,” said Slavin. “If you are driving drunk you will be arrested. If you’re driving without a seatbelt you be stopped and cited.”

According to IDOT eight people died on Illinois roadways last Thanksgiving weekend with 50% of the fatal crashes involving alcohol.

Gas Prices Higher Than Last Year

While fuel prices have been declining rapidly from the unexpected high this past summer and early fall, gas prices are still a bit more expensive than for this time last year.

Both AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report and gas price tracking website ChicagoGasPrices.com says the average price for unleaded gasoline in the greater Chicagoland area is around nine cents higher than Thanksgiving 2011.

Chicago most ticketed car sits in the city's impound lot at O'Hare Airport

EXCLUSIVE: The Astounding Story Of How A Car Worth $600 Racked Up Over $100,000 In Chicago Parking Tickets

It might just be a world record.

At the very least one particular car has set a City of Chicago record for having been issued the most parking violations ever and having accumulated the most parking fines in the city’s history.

The city claims Jennifer Fitzgerald owes over $100,000 in parking tickets.

No, that’s not a typo or a few misplaced zeros on the end.

The amount is actually 105,761 dollars and 80 cents to be precise.

This is the total mind boggling debt the City of Chicago says the 31 year old, single mother of one, allegedly owes for parking violations on a single vehicle.

It’s a car she claims she didn’t own, drive or park where it racked up 678 bright orange parking tickets over a period of nearly three years according to Chicago’s Department of Finance.

Based on records from the DOF’s  list of the city’s top parking ticket scofflaws, the car in question seems to have set a record in Chicago for having received the highest number of parking tickets as well as accruing the largest fine amounts ever–beating Chicago’s #2 ranked parking ticket scofflaw by $65,000 and over 400 violations!

But now Fitzgerald is fighting back with a lawsuit against the city, her ex-boyfriend and United Airlines which was filed Friday, November 2nd in Cook County Circuit Court.

A Love Story Gone Bad

According to the complaint, the somewhat confusing story starts when her former boyfriend Brandon Preveau, bought a 1999 Chevy Monte Carlo from Fitzgerald’s uncle for $600 in 2008. Despite paying all the fees associated with owning a vehicle (registration, title, insurance, etc.) he put the vehicle’s registration in Fitzgerald’s name–something the West Side Chicago resident claims was done without her knowledge.

The couple, despite having had a baby together, broke up at the start of 2009, and Preveau took the car with him after their split, using the car to drive to work at O’Hare Airport where he was employed by United Airlines.

Preveau would park the vehicle in O’Hare parking lot E, a secured outdoor lot surrounded by high chain link fencing, that’s open to the flying public but also utilized by drivers employed at the airport. The parking lot is owned by the City of Chicago and operated by Standard Parking Corporation. But according to the complaint, United Airlines leases spaces in the lot for use by airline employees.

For some reason, and unbeknownst to Fitzgerald, Preveau abandoned the vehicle, and according to the complaint contends, “On or before November 17, 2009, Brandon drove the Automobile into the Parking Lot and never drove it out again.”

30 Days

While the car Preveau drove began receiving parking tickets at the O’Hare lot as early as May 23rd, 2009 the key date for this story is November 17th, 2009.

On that particular day the vehicle was issued seven different parking tickets including being in a hazardous and dilapidated condition, no city sticker, broken headlights, missing or cracked windows, expired plates, being an abandoned vehicle and most importantly a violation for parking a vehicle for more than 30 days in a city owned lot.

Beyond the $50 fine that comes with that violation, the law also states ”Any vehicle parked in violation of this section shall be subjected to an immediate tow and removal to city vehicle pound or authorized garage.”.

Department of Aviation spokesperson Karen Pride says O’Hare parking policies essentially echo the law. 30 days is the normal maximum a vehicle is allowed to stay parked in any of O’Hare parking lots. Although exceptions can be made for a longer stay if arrangements are made with between the driver and Standard Parking.

“There are signs posted at the entrance to all revenue lots at O’Hare relating the parking policy,” says Pride. “If an individual plans to leave a vehicle in a revenue lot for longer than 30 days, he must notify Standard Parking, the lot operators at the airport.”

“If a vehicle is in a lot for more than 30 days and Standard Parking was not notified, then the company will try to contact the owner to find out his plans to get the vehicle,” Pride further explained. “If Standard cannot contact the owner, then the vehicle is towed to Lot F, where it might remain for 30-90 days, in case the owner comes back for it. After that period, the vehicle is towed to the City impound lot as abandoned.”

But despite the legal fact and corresponding airport parking policies which should have seen the car yanked from the lot, airport police continued to ticket the vehicle over and over and over again for a wide range of violations until April 30th 2012.

In the nearly two and a half years after the car had been officially designated as an abandoned vehicle by the city it had been ticketed another 677 times.

Fitzgerald’s lawsuit argues the vast majority of the tickets would never have been issued if the city had just followed their own law and protocols when the vehicle was first identified as being in violation of the law.

Put On Notice

Fitzgerald finally began getting a whiff there was a serious problem in December, 2009 when the first batch, of what would eventually total 391 notices from the Department of Revenue began appearing in her mailbox for the contagion of parking tickets being generated at the airport.

Fitzgerald, according to the complaint, began trying to rectify the situation in several ways.

First, she and her family pleaded with Preveau to move the car, but to no avail. She wanted to move the vehicle herself but was stymied because she didn’t have keys to the car nor could she access the car because it was parked in a secure lot she claims. She enlisted the Chicago Police Department to aide her but the complaint says the investigating officer couldn’t obtain access to the lot either says the legal filing.

Fitzgerald asked the Illinois Secretary of State to revoke the vehicle’s license plates, which finally occurred September 29, 2010.

Yet, despite the revocation, the city continued to issue the parking violations to the car for another year and a half.

In the latter part of 2011, the city through their collection agency Arnold, Scott Harris, had obtained several judgments against Fitzgerald totaling nearly $21,000–a mere fraction of the total the city claims she now owes.

Appearing before an Administrative Law Judge to defend herself and hopefully explain the confounding situation, Fitzgerald  says she was advised by the ALJ to sign over title to the vehicle to Preveau in order to shift liability to him, which she promptly did and delivered it to her ex-boyfriend.

Finally, Some  Help

After dealing with this parking ticket nightmare by her lonesome for two years, Fitzgerald finally secured some help this past April in the form of pro bono legal counsel from attorney Robin Omahana.

When contacted, Omahana declined to comment on the pending matter, or make his client available to discuss her situation, but directed us to his filed complaint.

Omahana wrote a letter to Arnold Scott Harris to explain the situation and ask for some sort of relief for Fitzgerald. Ultimately, in July the collection attorneys came back and said Fitzgerald’s attempt to transfer title to Preveau was inadequate and the city would show no mercy for her situation claiming she was indeed liable for the six figures of parking ticket fines.

At that point, Omahana began moving forward to prepare the lawsuit that was filed November 2nd.

Roderick Drew, spokesperson for the city’s Law Department, when contacted about the complaint, explained that department has not seen the lawsuit yet.

“The City hasn’t yet had a chance to review the lawsuit, so we can’t comment at this time,” said Drew.

The City Digs In Their Heels

Trying to find out how a situation like this could occur, The Expired Meter contacted the Chicago Police Department, Standard Parking (which has the contract to manage O’Hare’s parking lots) and further pressed the city’s Aviation Department for more insight into how something like this could happen. Each entity was loudly silent on the matter.

CPD spokesperson Melissa Stratton, after multiple requests by phone and email, had not answered any of The Expired Meter’s questions regarding CPD’s policies on parking enforcement and towing abandoned vehicles at the airport as of this story’s publication. Standard Parking declined to share their thoughts saying their contract with the city forbade the company from commenting on such matters and referred this site back to the Dept. of Aviation for answers.

Pride, the Department of Aviation spokesperson for O’Hare, also did not respond to this site’s followup questions requesting more detailed information in regards to parking enforcement and towing policies at airport lots.

So is the city really planning to collect the enormous sum of money from Fitzgerald?

“Ms. Fitzgerald may contact the Department of Finance to resolve this matter,” answered DOF spokesperson Holly Stutz via email, punctuating her statement with a breakdown of the number of tickets and notices issued to Fitzgerald and referring this website to a Freedom of Information Act option if more information was wanted.

Payment plans are available from the city to pay off larger amounts of parking ticket debt. But when a driver’s license has been suspended or the vehicle has been booted in Fitzgerald’s case, the city requires at least a 50% down payment and the registered owner given one year to pay off the balance. Although in some cases the city will agree to 24 months of payments according to a telephone operator this website spoke to at Arnold Scott Harris. But none of these scenarios seem anywhere close to realistic for anyone with such an oppressive amount of debt, let alone a person like Fitzgerald who lacks employment.

What’s Next?

In the meantime it seems, according to the city’s ticket search website, the abandoned car was booted and Fitzgerald’s driver’s license has been suspended according to city databases.

Fitzgerald’s lawsuit asks the court to find she was not the owner of the car and therefore not liable for the parking tickets.  At worst the filing ask that the city and United Airlines should be responsible for towing the abandoned car from the parking lot on November 17, 2009 and thus no subsequent tickets should have been issued after that date.

The $100,000 parking ticket case will first see the inside of a courtroom in early May of next year.

Just a few days before Fitzgerald’s lawsuit was filed but nearly three years after it was first abandoned in that O’Hare parking lot, the car with six figures in parking tickets, was finally towed to a city impound lot at O’Hare on October 26, 2012 according to the city’s Find Your Vehicle website.

The car remains behind the high, razor wired topped chain link fence of the O’Hare auto pound, just a few blocks from where it had forlornly spent the past three years. It’s ultimate fate will most likely be the scrapyard.

That is unless someone pays the over $100,000 in parking tickets still owing.

Someone else wrote those parking tickets.

That’s what two Chicago police officers, accused of writing some of the 24 bogus parking tickets issued to motorist Mark Geinosky, contended in their police board hearings earlier this week.

In other words, according to the Chicago Tribune, the two officers became victims of the same scam that targeted Geinosky when another officer or officers stole a handful of tickets from their ticket books to harass Geinosky.

Interestingly, in the case of one officer, the ticket sequence seems to support his assertion that some of the tickets were stolen from him.

As you may recall, Geinosky started getting phantom parking tickets in the mail for dates and addresses where he could not have possibly been. Geinosky successfully fought and had all the tickets dismissed. He decided to file a formal complaint with internal affairs. This went no where until the Tribune’s Problem Solver columnist Jon Yates got involved and put a spotlight on Geinosky’s plight.

Not surprisingly, once the Trib was involved, the police investigation restarted. Now, four years later, two of the four police officers accused of being involved are now having their termination cases heard before the police board.

Geinosky also has a civil rights lawsuit regarding this issue pending in federal court.

Here’s the Tribune’s full report, “2 Chicago police officers claim they also are victims in bogus-ticket probe.”

But recently, a reader of local news website Oak Park.com snapped a few photos of CPD vehicles parking illegally on downtown Oak Park streets and wrote a sarcastic letter about the fact that they don’t get ticketed. Of course, non-cops parking illegally in downtown Oak Park face a much different reality.

But after a flurry of heated debate on the subject on Oak Park.com, another reader posted a photo of a police cruiser with a bright orange parking ticket envelope on its windshield.

This triggered another eruption of comments and debate.

So, now we pose the question.

Should Chicago Police officers be able to park illegally in Oak Park or any other municipality bordering Chicago?

Here’s the original posting and photos on Oak Park.com entitled, “A solution for free parking in Oak Park – become a Chicago cop,” and the followup photo of the cop car with the parking ticket in a post entitled “Chicago cop car gets ticketed in Oak Park”.

Especially in Chicago.

Remember Mark Geinosky?

He was the south suburban man who got 24 Chicago parking tickets in just over a year all the way back in 2007. The problem was, the tickets were phony.

He beat each one, but took the matter to the Police Review Authority. That went nowhere until the Chicago Tribune’s Problem Solver, Jon Yates began reporting about Geinosky’s story.

The whole situation has been rattling around in the court system, police department and in the media the entire time. Back in November Police Commissioner Garry McCarthy recommended termination of the cops involved.

Finally, according to the Tribune, hearings have been scheduled for March 23rd for two of the three officers. The third is deployed in Afghanistan and will face a hearing after he returns from his tour of duty.

Here’s the full story, “Problem Solver: Hearing set for police officers in ticket case.”

Readers will recall that the Tribune’s consumer help reporter, Jon Yates aka The Problem Solver stepped in to give Geinosky some help fighting a rash of questionable parking tickets that never showed up on his car’s windshield but always showed up in the mail.

But now, according to the most recent Problem Solver column in the Tribune, it looks like Police Commissioner Garry McCarthy is recommending termination for three of the four cops alleged to be involved, while a fourth cop would have faced a similar fate if not for being fired for an unrelated matter recently.

Geinosky, according to the story, seems shocked.

The three police officers now face a hearing in front of a Police Board to see if their termination holds up.

Here’s the Tribune’s full story, “Problem Solver: Police cite 3 officers over fake tickets; man vindicated.”

Sounds like a police officer on the Northwest side has a bug up his butt.

According to CBS 2 News Chicago police officer Gary Sanabria seems to be issuing a lot of parking tickets for Chicago city sticker violations to vehicles which clearly exhibit a suburban vehicle sticker.

Reporter Dave Savini interviews a handful of people who visit family members in an area in the 31st ward where Officer Sanabria keeps on writing these $120 tickets to any car without a Chicago city sticker even if they don’t need one.

The good news for these drivers is they’re having good success contesting the tickets and having them dismissed.

But they’re still having to spend an inordinate amount of time fighting parking tickets that should never have been issued in the first place.

What’s the officer’s problem?

No one knows as CBS 2 can’t get a call back from CPD or 31st Ward Alderman Ray Suarez.

Here’s CBS 2′s full story, “2 Investigators: Suburban Motorists Say They’re Getting Socked With Bogus Chicago Tickets.”

But it seems some Chicago police officers are writing tickets to drivers for having expired city stickers despite having purchased a 2011 city sticker.

According to reports from 33rd Ward Alderman Richard Mell’s office, there’s been a rash of expensive $120 parking tickets issued up in his Northside ward because drivers didn’t remove city stickers from previous years. According to some drivers, the tickets are not being issued by Parking Enforcement Aides but by the CPD.

“I’ve just read an e-mail from a constituent that informs me that tickets
are being issued in our ward (and other places in the city) for having old city stickers affixed to your windshield,” said Mell in an email to constituents. “This is something that even I was not aware of.”

While the municipal code does instruct drivers that the city sticker should be placed in the lower right corner of the windshield, it does not provide exact measurements. Nor does the municipal code say anything about removing city stickers from previous years.

“What appears to be the primary issue is not merely that there was an expired city sticker in addition to the current one, but also that we put the current city sticker above the expired one and therefore the city sticker was not sufficiently in the lower right hand corner for whomever was writing tickets that day,” says Elly who emailed us from Mell’s ward. “So it seems that someone was having a bad day, or they’ve received instructions to be OCD about ticketing in order to raise revenue.”

The Chicago City Clerk’s office, which is responsible for issuing city stickers to drivers, also does its own enforcement of city sticker violations. However, according to City Clerk spokesperson Kristine Williams, their enforcement people don’t care if old stickers are on the windshield.

“Our enforcement people are just looking for the city sticker to be displayed,” says Williams. “Our biggest concern is that the city sticker is on the windshield.”

While Williams concurs the municipal code is not minutely specific when it comes to exactly where the city sticker should be placed on the lower right of the windshield she advises drivers to remove expired city stickers.

“We always encourage people to remove last year’s city stickers,” says Williams.