For eight months, Sandi and Bob Durell have been trying to prove their innocence in a case of two traffic violations they had supposedly committed in August 2017. Their defense is simple—they don’t own a car.
The tickets were for parking at an expired meter and for having license plates that don’t match the number on the registration sticker—for a total of $100.
The couple indeed used to have a 1999 Lexus with license plates noted on the tickets. But they sold the car in 2013.
They sent the city the car’s bill of sale and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) receipt for the plates—proof that they didn’t own the car anymore and that the plates were supposed to have been destroyed.
They were shocked, however, by the Parking Violations Bureau’s response.
The bureau dismissed the parking meter offense, but maintained the one for non-matching license plate numbers.
“I have nothing to do with these plates any longer,” Sandi said.
The DMV is supposed to destroy returned license plates, but, as it turned out, it sends them to a recycler in upstate New York and sometimes some plates end up on another car instead, a department official acknowledged.
“Somebody is doing something illegal,” Sandi commented.
Meanwhile, the remaining ticket flowed forth through the bureaucracy and the Durells received a Notice of Impending Default from the city’s Department of Finance, adding a $30 penalty and a threat that the case may be turned over to a collection agency.
Sandi sent the paperwork again, this time with a statement.
“My husband is 85 years old. I am 77. We are not able to keep dealing with the problems of your office. Please correct your records!” she wrote.
This time she also got in touch with local media, PIX11, who contacted the Department of Finance on the couple’s behalf. And they were told the Durells needed to submit the paperwork again.
Finally, after an 8-month bureaucracy battle, the bureau’s Appeals Board dismissed the summons against the Durells.
But is this really the end?
“Those plates are still out there,“ Bob said. ”And it could happen again and again and again.”
And what if the couple couldn’t find the five-year-old documents?
