Is This Ticket Legal? (Santa Monica, Monterey: home, dorm, school)

[Franco Tirado]

Eight weeks ago my wife and I were dropping our daughter at USC and we drove two cars and it was quite chaotic due to Covid-19. I decided to leave while my wife stayed behind helping our daughter settle into her dorm. A block away I realized that our daughter have left something on my car. There wasn't any other place to parked, behind another car, and we were both on a red zone to make a quick call in from of a Chicken-Fil-A. So I called my wife and left a msg.

A cop drove on the other side and yelled at us telling us that we were on a red zone. My window was down so I told the cop that I was dropping our daughter at her dorm and needed to bring her something she had forgotten. The cop told me that the entrance was around the other corner. I said thank you and left. By the time I drove around to the front my wife have called me back telling me that it was ok and not to worry. So I took off. A block away I noticed the same cop who have told me to move on right behind me. He tailed me for a few minutes and I was wondering why he was doing it. Then he made an u-turn and I drove away home to Santa Monica.
Then we went away to visit relatives in Monterey for a month. Then when we returned there was a ticket for $100 for parking on a red zone. I couldn't remember getting a citation so I asked my wife if she recognized the address. Sure enough it was from that officer who told me to drive away from the red zone. But why a ticket when he actually let me go minutes before and didn't give me any ticket at all. I feel that what he did was quite dirty and didn't think it is even legal.

Any thoughts?

Thanks so much!

Franco

[Axxlrod]

Were you parked in a red zone?

Yes = legal ticket
No = illegal ticket

[Franco Tirado]

Axxlrod I just pulled over but I didn't leave my car at all.Agree red zone is wrong. My question is more as to why he didn't give me a ticket there and told me "you can't park there, move your vehicle" and that was it. I thought that for a ticket to be valid someone must stop me and handed it to me. Otherwise if I was a cop and didnt like the way you look or whatever I could follow you and write something crazy and have a ticket mail to your home. Thanks for your advice.

[Franco Tirado]

@SoCal25 Thanks and I don't mind paying for it. I just thought that for a ticket to be legal the cop have to get out, write it and hand it to someone.

[SoCal25]

Originally Posted by Franco Tirado

@SoCal25 Thanks and I don't mind paying for it. I just thought that for a ticket to be legal the cop have to get out, write it and hand it to someone.

I might have been a little harsh, but yeah cops do that.

[Franco Tirado]

@SoCal25 no harsh at all save it for someone else more sensitive. I grew up in Europe and we say it same way as you and life goes on and nobody hates each other. We are no PC at all. Too many fragile minded people in the USA. Appreciated your input.

[joosoon]

Originally Posted by Franco Tirado

I just thought that for a ticket to be legal the cop have to get out, write it and hand it to someone.

In your situation, it's no different than getting a parking ticket on your unoccupied car. You don't have to be with your vehicle to be cited for parking in a red zone. But it just so happens you were when you were contacted by the LE officer who wrote the citation which was eventually mailed to you. What you interpreted as being let go, was in reality the officer just simplifying the issuance of the ticket by not pulling you over again after you had driven away. He witnessed you parked/stopped in the red zone and that's all he needed. Perfectly legal.


If you were to pursue this and plead not guilty, and your only defense was that you believed the officer was letting you off the hook, it would be completely irrelevant. Fighting a legitimate parking ticket is pointless, especially since you'd have to pay the fine up front as that's the price of admission to go to court. Only if you win do you recoup that money and you'll probably be spending a day in the courthouse waiting to do it too.

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Originally Posted by Franco Tirado

Eight weeks ago my wife and I were dropping our daughter at USC and we drove two cars and it was quite chaotic due to Covid-19.

Your first sentence is a run-on. So, I'm guessing you were probably at fault for whatever you did, and it would be best to simply pay the ticket.

[2Easy]

This is interesting because I've never heard of a moving vehicle being issued a parking ticket. Usually the fact that a ticket is left on your window when parked at a certain address is evidence that the vehicle was parked illegally. That a vehicle is moving when ticketed certainly raises some doubt. It would be reasonable to question why the ticket wasn't left with the vehicle if it were parked illegally.

Maybe it would be worth it to say that there must be some mistake because you never parked your vehicle and your proof would be that you never had a ticket put on your car.

[5pyg1a55]

Originally Posted by Franco Tirado

Eight weeks ago my wife and I were dropping our daughter at USC and we drove two cars and it was quite chaotic due to Covid-19. I decided to leave while my wife stayed behind helping our daughter settle into her dorm. A block away I realized that our daughter have left something on my car. There wasn't any other place to parked, behind another car, and we were both on a red zone to make a quick call in from of a Chicken-Fil-A. So I called my wife and left a msg.

A cop drove on the other side and yelled at us telling us that we were on a red zone. My window was down so I told the cop that I was dropping our daughter at her dorm and needed to bring her something she had forgotten. The cop told me that the entrance was around the other corner. I said thank you and left. By the time I drove around to the front my wife have called me back telling me that it was ok and not to worry. So I took off. A block away I noticed the same cop who have told me to move on right behind me. He tailed me for a few minutes and I was wondering why he was doing it. Then he made an u-turn and I drove away home to Santa Monica.
Then we went away to visit relatives in Monterey for a month. Then when we returned there was a ticket for $100 for parking on a red zone. I couldn't remember getting a citation so I asked my wife if she recognized the address. Sure enough it was from that officer who told me to drive away from the red zone. But why a ticket when he actually let me go minutes before and didn't give me any ticket at all. I feel that what he did was quite dirty and didn't think it is even legal.

Any thoughts?

Thanks so much!

Franco

So you drove *two* cars to drop your adult child off at school... you abandoned at least one car stationary in a red zone, were warned by authorities more than once to move, continued to work around their orders, and are now complaining about a ticket? LMFAO

Pay the ticket and stop whining.