Centralia, Mo., woman sues after arrest over $2 ticket

St. Louis Post Dispatch ^ | 12/31/03 | Tim Bryant

[Tim Osman]

When police officers woke Ann Robinette at home in Centralia, Mo., just after 1 o'clock one morning, she feared that someone was hurt or a relative had died.

Instead, the officers arrested her for failing to pay a $2 ticket for parking in a zone reserved for police cars.

[goldstategop]

Its unheard for the police to arrest someone for a $2 parking ticket. Its an infraction and the arrest and jail time sounds illegal to me. Why couldn't the DMV take care of this? You gotta wonder if they lost their marbles over in the Show Me State.

[John Beresford Tipton]

"You gotta wonder if they lost their marbles over in the Show Me State."

Wonder whether they got the name the "Show Me State" from their saying to the poll watchers:
"'Show Me' how to vote for a dead man for senator"?

[Johnny_Cipher]

There's gotta be more to this story than meets the eye. A middle-of-the-night bust over a TWO DOLLAR parking ticket? Maybe the town's police chief tried to make a Mrs. Robinson out of Ms. Robinette and was spurned or something.

[aruanan]

In September, the city attorney dismissed the tickets against both Robinettes. Stephen Wyse, a lawyer representing them in their lawsuit, said the city had little choice because it had never adopted an ordinance establishing the zone for police parking only.

Let's hope they bust the city big time.

[WSGilcrest]

The way I'm reading it, she got arrested for FTA, not the ticket.

[Thebaddog]

They just issued Deputy Fife a second bullet.

[goldstategop]

True... but over such a trifling amount? And parking tickets are motor vehicle offenses that never appear on one's record. In California its now an administrative process. If you don't pay a parking ticket, your car gets booted if its parked on a public street or the DMV simply refuses to renew your auto registration or drivers' license til outstanding parking tickets get settled. Something doesn't compute here.

[southland]

It happens almost every where. The Cities have to have income to support their expensive spending habits. Usually they get their funds through DUI, meth and speeding tickets from poor people who can not afford lawyers and don't know their rights.
Some of the officers in my area make money through chicken fighting.

[Sloth]

Failure to appear... for a crime that doesn't exist.

[Air Assault]

Do not go to Centralia, MO

[Honcho Bongs]

"She and Wyse say they suspect that problems over a house sale may have played a role. Jones and his wife sought last year to buy a house owned by Robinette's mother, Robinette said, but the sale fell through."

Here it is right here. This is a despicable abuse of police power.

[Tim Osman]

I agree - this CAN'T be the whole story, unless the police force in Centralia is either corrupt or inept...

[Triple Word Score]

I am guessing there is something personal involved here.

[Gunslingr3]

Instead, the officers arrested her for failing to pay a $2 ticket for parking in a zone reserved for police cars.

She committed the worst crime of all, contempt for cops.

[Johnny_Cipher]

She committed the worst crime of all, contempt for cops.

Maybe she got the last donut at Tim Hortons.

[GulfWar1Vet]

I live only about 12 miles away from Centralia..it's a small town.

Town must be desperate for $$, even if it's $2.00 LoL

[CWOJackson]

"Maybe she got the last donut at Tim Hortons."

You must be Canadian.

[zip]

ping

[Johnny_Cipher]

You must be Canadian.

"She got the last donut at Dunkin Donuts" just didn't parse as well. And Centralia is too small to have a Krispy Kreme outlet :)