Unattended Vehicle Ticket

[bbnut1101]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York

My son received a pink summons for unattended vehicle. However, let me tell you how it was received. He parked his car and ran into a deli. He came out right away and got into his car and pulled away. He was pulled over by a nyc police officer driving a scooter. He proceeded to tell my son that he was pulled over for leaving his car on. After asking for his license, he came back to the car and proceeded to arrest him, telling him he had 2 outstanding warrants for his arrest. He brought him to the stationhouse and then when they couldn't get the warrant squad on the phone, they brought him to the court house where, surprise, surprise, there were NO WARRANTS for his arrest after all. Then, after he took the handcuffs off, he proceeded to give him a pink summons for unattended vehicle. However, the ticket has the wrong plate number and the officer used the wrong address for the "place of occurrence". I think he put the court house address down. Can this ticket be thrown out based on the fact that the information is wrong, and does he have to wait for the court appearance date or can he go down sooner? I mean, he was falsely arrested and dragged around for 2 hours as well.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[FlyingRon]

The clerical errors will not get the ticket invalidated.
Where is he summonsed to appear?

 

[wrongsometimes]

post the ticket ....

 

[bbnut1101]

Criminal court in nyc. You mean to tell me that the wrong plate number and place of occurrence won't allow the ticket to be thrown out? How about false arrest? How about he has auto start on the vehicle? If he left the car on for a long period of time, isn't the officer supposed to open the car and take the keys out? He was out of the store in 30 secs. The officer was parked across the street and behind cars. how could he have even seen this? I have to add that my son has been harassed by officers from this pct for months now, constantly pulled over for nothing and had his car searched for nothing because it is a low income high crime area near a projects. Two weeks after this happened, he was pulled over not far from where this happened (but up the block from our house) for a non working brake light. He didn't have his license with him but gave his name and they arrested him anyway and dragged him down to the pct to check for warrants. It is getting ridiculous and i will be filing complaints against this pct very soon.

 

[HighwayMan]

post the ticket ....

Why? You don't know anything about NY law anyway so that will not help you. There is no need to "post the ticket".

OP... what county did this occur in and what court is the summons returnable to?

Your son is apparently guilty of the violation. Coming "right out" is not an excuse if he left the engine running.

The errors you noted probably will not get the summons dismissed.

And the arrest was not "false" if the warrants showed as active in NYSPIN or FINEST. It could also be that the court officers could not find the right files when he was brought to the court that the warrants were originated in. If you want to deal with a "false arrest" issue then you'll have to hire an attorney.

The summons is for a relatively minor violation. Your son will likely just end up with a small fine and no criminal record.

He should just go to court and deal with it. As far as his two hour adventure is concerned, he should just "suck it up" and learn a lesson from it. Did he ever received any criminal summonses before? Chances are that if not active now, the warrants WERE active at some point.

 

[bbnut1101]

He had received a ticket a long time ago for either loitering or drinking in public. He never went to court. He did clear it up and the ticket was thrown out. He's never had a warrant since then. The court gave him paperwork that showed he had no warrants. In fact, like I said, he was pulled over several times for no reason and these "warrants" never came up before. And he only had one. Where did this cop come up with two? My son said the court officer said " why did you bring this kid in, he has no warrants at all".

 

[You Are Guilty]

What is the number(s) of the statute he is alleged to have violated? That will make a big difference (in fact, the only difference) as to whether mistakes in the ticket are grounds to dismiss it.

 

[bbnut1101]

I don't have the ticket in front of me. he got it back in january and has to go to court in march. i can barely read it. what should i be looking for? What will help or hinder him?

 

[HighwayMan]

The court gave him paperwork that showed he had no warrants.

The court gave him no such thing. He received a disposition indicating that particular charge was adjudicated.

And just because he's been pulled over since then doesn't mean he didn't have any warrants. Alot of NYPD officers will not run warrant checks on motorists even if they're supposed to. Don't ever assume a license/warrant check was done.

 

[HighwayMan]

What is the number(s) of the statute he is alleged to have violated?

I'll guess it was VTL 1210(a) (Unattended motor vehicle, keys in ignition or engine running).

I don't think there is any other statute in the Traffic Rules or Administrative Code covering this.

 

[You Are Guilty]

I'm wondering if it wasn't just a double parking or other non-mover. And even if it is a 1210, there are potential defenses (although dad hasn't actually identified any facts suggesting they might apply).

 

[bbnut1101]

He did get two printouts from the court. I'm not making that up. And, like I said, he only had 1 warrant in his lifetime and that was vacated over a year ago. This cop said he had two. How can that be explained? Either way, I guess he'll have to show up to court.

 

[HighwayMan]

How about he has auto start on the vehicle?

Makes no difference as long as the key was in the ignition. And I think you mean remote start.

If he left the car on for a long period of time, isn't the officer supposed to open the car and take the keys out?

No!

He was out of the store in 30 secs.

30 seconds or 30 minutes makes no difference. It only takes a few seconds to steal a car with the keys in it.

He didn't have his license with him but gave his name and they arrested him anyway and dragged him down to the pct to check for warrants.

That's EXACTLY what they should have done if he did not have any identification with him. In that particular case the situation was your son's fault.

i will be filing complaints against this pct very soon.

One does not file a complaint against a precinct, only individual officers. Although what type of complaint are you making and to whom?


Try going to the precinct first and speak with the Community Affairs Officer. They usually work days Monday through Friday.