Pay a Ticket, and Steal a rug.. What??????

[Sonar5]

Ok talk about stupid is as stupid does.....

This lady went to court, paid her speeding ticket, (74 in a 65....So much for that 9mph rule huh?). Anyway she paid it and then decides to steal a rug from the courthouse.

Hello...... Gene Pool alert..... Gene Pool Alert...

I cracked up when I read this....

http://www.dailymail.com/news/News/2006031025/

[SIZE=+2]Woman pays speeding ticket,
swipes courthouse rug, goes to jail[/SIZE]

Michael A. Jones
Daily Mail Staff

[SIZE=-1]Friday March 10, 2006[/SIZE]
Police say a woman who had to pay $139.50 for a speeding ticket must have decided to obtain some home decor from the Upshur County Courthouse in return.


Sarah Zabolotny, 29, of Elkins paid the ticket on Feb. 27 after being cited for driving 74 mph in a 65 mph zone.


Afterward, according to authorities, she left with her boyfriend via an elevator and walked around a long, burgundy hallway rug leading to the doorway of the Upshur County Courthouse. Police say she bent over, folded the 8-foot-long rug twice and walked out of the courthouse with it.


"People continue to amaze me with the stuff they do," Upshur County Sheriff Virgil Miller said.


A maintenance worker noticed the missing runner about an hour later and notified the sheriff's department, located just a few feet from where the $270 rug was swiped.


Deputies immediately scanned video surveillance of the hallway in the communication center. They produced a picture of a woman with her hair pulled back and showed it to all of the employees in the building.


"To do it in a public building, especially now with today's technology," Miller said. "About everybody has a security camera in their courthouse."


When they described the woman's appearance to Beth Miller, a magistrate court deputy clerk, she immediately remembered processing her citation.
"When someone told me someone had stolen the rug in the lobby, I was surprised and shocked," Miller said. "I was like no way. I've seen a lot of things and can tell a lot of stories, but nothing like that one."


She went to review the video and told investigators it was Zabolotny.
Miller easily accessed all of her basic information after thumbing through the citation paperwork she filed only a couple hours before.


Zabolotny was tracked to her Elkins home, and deputies called that day to tell her to return the rug.


Police say she freely admitted to taking it, but tried to barter for a free pass.


"She asked if she could return the rug and we'd forget about it," Virgil Miller said. "We told her we couldn't do that."


She returned the following day with the rug and was charged with petit larceny. She was arraigned in magistrate court, but Miller said she gave no explanation when the magistrate asked her motive.


"The only thing we can say is that she was probably mad she had to pay a citation," Miller said.


She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to spend five days at Tygart Valley Regional Jail.


Zabolotny also was ordered to pay the court and jail fees, which totaled to a little over $400, and was released from jail on Monday.


Miller said he doubts any lessons can be learned from such a bizarre crime.
"I'm just dumbfounded," Miller said.

Yeah I'll say... lesson learned.. Please don't reproduce...

 

[poadeleted1]

I am afraid to ask what state? Please tell me it's not WV....I live too close....

 

[Sonar5]

I think it is WV....

Sorry, she's all yours.....

 

[wbarnhill]

Just out of curiousity, I wonder if the variance in speedometer reading vs. actual speed, as well as the accuracy of the radar gun could impose enough of a question on the ticket that it gets thrown out? I know my g/f's brand new MINI Cooper reads about 3mph faster than she's actually going when she's in the 40-70mph range. Straight from the factory. I know that wouldn't help her in a ticket, but what if it was 3mph variance in the other direction? (Don't know how the factory calibrates speedometers) Couldn't all of these variables actually call into question the validity of a number of speeding tickets? Or is it your fault regardless of defects in the vehicle?

 

[alaskaflyer]

Several people have used that defense with me over the years, back when I actually rode a patrol vehicle and not a desk as much, and the judge was willing to lend a sympathetic ear, but you would have to introduce evidence to back up your claim - which is why most lost their case in the end

 

[poadeleted1]

Just out of curiousity, I wonder if the variance in speedometer reading vs. actual speed, as well as the accuracy of the radar gun could impose enough of a question on the ticket that it gets thrown out? I know my g/f's brand new MINI Cooper reads about 3mph faster than she's actually going when she's in the 40-70mph range. Straight from the factory. I know that wouldn't help her in a ticket, but what if it was 3mph variance in the other direction? (Don't know how the factory calibrates speedometers) Couldn't all of these variables actually call into question the validity of a number of speeding tickets? Or is it your fault regardless of defects in the vehicle?

Guy on my ship used that one time - my speedo is off, your honesty. So Judge gave the guy 3 days to get his speedo calibrated and come back with a receipt. Still cost him about $75.00, but clean license.

Me, well, I tried to convince a Judge that when I first came back from 3 years in Europe that I simply was thinking in km/hr and 88km/hr = 55 mph. He said that was a new one; gave me 3 points for creativity and asked me to see the clerk on the way out to give her $88.00 plus court costs. That was back in the '70's, but it probably would still not work.

 

[Greebo]

Upshire County, WV. Sheesh. Our home state does us proud sometimes, don't it Joe?

 

[Len Lanetti]

RE: the 9 MPH rule:
Based on what I've heard...it appears to me that police officers will write a ticket for a lower speed, less of a violation, fewer points in some cases if the driver's story is compelling...not that I would know first hand, just what I've heard.

RE: Speedo is off:
"Your honor I have a letter here from my mechanic who states that he installed tires that are the wrong size for my car and he failed to tell me that the tires would make the speedometer register 3 to 5 miles per hour low."

"Your honor I have a letter here from my mechanic who recently replaced the cable on my speedometer. The letter states that while installing the cable it was kinked which would cause the speedometer to register a lower speed. The faster the car goes the more the speed is off it can be off as much as X at Y speed." insert required speed difference for X, insert appropriate speed limit for Y.

From observation varying success can be had with these methods. Praying that the police officer doesn't show up in court helps as well (St Christoper is the patron saint of travelers, you can also try the Blessed John Speed).

Be presentable in front of the judge, wear the halo, speak with deference to his authority. If you are in the service dress, like you are going to an inspection by the base commander not in the service you say well get a haircut, shave before going to court and wear a nice suite but not one that cost more than the judge could afford.

Again not that I would know from a first person perspective...just stuff I've heard.

Len

 

[Greebo]

I actually avoided a speeding ticket once because I demonstrated to the officer who pulled me over that my speedometer wasn't working. I was out of town and it had died while on the trip.

Of course, that only worked once - all the other speeding tickets I've gotten my car was working just fine...

 

[poadeleted3]

Just out of curiousity, I wonder if the variance in speedometer reading vs. actual speed, as well as the accuracy of the radar gun could impose enough of a question on the ticket that it gets thrown out? I know my g/f's brand new MINI Cooper reads about 3mph faster than she's actually going when she's in the 40-70mph range. Straight from the factory. I know that wouldn't help her in a ticket, but what if it was 3mph variance in the other direction? (Don't know how the factory calibrates speedometers) Couldn't all of these variables actually call into question the validity of a number of speeding tickets? Or is it your fault regardless of defects in the vehicle?

It's a rare cop indeed that will write a ticket for that 3 mph. Now, I've seen judges willing to convict for the lower speed if the person was convincing, or nice, and usually when they weren't trying to get out of the ticket. Just trying to get tagged for a slower speed to lower the cost of the ticket, and points.

 

[poadeleted3]

Upshire County, WV. Sheesh. Our home state does us proud sometimes, don't it Joe?

Reckon she figured she was at Wal-mart... she'd paid her money, she got to buy something LOL.

 

[SJP]

Just out of curiousity, I wonder if the variance in speedometer reading vs. actual speed, as well as the accuracy of the radar gun could impose enough of a question on the ticket that it gets thrown out? I know my g/f's brand new MINI Cooper reads about 3mph faster than she's actually going when she's in the 40-70mph range. Straight from the factory. I know that wouldn't help her in a ticket, but what if it was 3mph variance in the other direction? (Don't know how the factory calibrates speedometers) Couldn't all of these variables actually call into question the validity of a number of speeding tickets? Or is it your fault regardless of defects in the vehicle?

I got off a big ticket in the UK once in a related manner. I was 17, and I had a small single-cylinder 4-stroke motorcyle, 125cc. I was 'clocked' coming into a 40mph zone at 92mph

Talking to the policeman operating the radar gun, I explained that there was no way on this green earth that I was doing 92...the bike wouldn't do more than 80 at redline downhill with the wind behind and at most I was doing 45. The defense fell on deaf ears, the ticket was written, I was summoned to appear anyway. More than 30mph over the limit in the UK is a mandatory 1 year ban.

My father (a policeman at the time) called Suzuki, and got a letter from them stating that there was no way the bike could do 92 given the engine limits, gearbox ratios and final drive setup. We also got one of the police motorcyclists to test the bike on a track and got an affadavit showing that the maximum speed obtained was 78mph.

In court, the judge basically laughed at the policeman that wrote the ticket, and told him that he should have excercised some common sense. Subsequent investigation (through Father) revealed that there was a problem with a small number of detectors that that division of the police force had been issued which would cause them to 'momentarily indicate an inflated speed, exactly double the actual speed'.

I also got off one at 3am on the M6 coming home from a friend's house - I was doing 101 (limit was 70), back when I had a VW Golf GTI I was the only thing on the road (except for the police car that came onto the freeway behind me...). The policeman walked over to me and said "Is this your car sir ?" and I replied "Company's...Do you think I'd be thrashing it so hard if I had to pay for it ?". After chuckling for a minute, he let me off with a warning to 'try and keep it on the ground sir...it won't actually fly without the wings...'.

Coolest cop I ever met (other than Father!)

 

[Len Lanetti]

the bike wouldn't do more than 80 at redline downhill with the wind behind

My first motorcycle, bought while in high school, was a well used Honda 100...IIRC the most it would manage straight and level would be about 60 or 65 at full throttle....going downhill though was an entirely different thing. Speaking from a theoretical Newtonian physics perspective only, of course.

Len

 

[SJP]

My first motorcycle, bought while in high school, was a well used Honda 100...IIRC the most it would manage straight and level would be about 60 or 65 at full throttle....going downhill though was an entirely different thing. Speaking from a theoretical Newtonian physics perspective only, of course.

Len

Suzuki GS125 - 50mpg and 80mph max. Used to fill the 3 gallon tank once a week

Now the GSX1100R....that was another matter

 

[SkyHog]

oh god. One of my sister's ex-boyfriends got picked up for DWI. While he was in a room about to be let go into my sister's custody, he thinks it'd be swift to steal the clock off the wall and a stapler.

He didn't get to leave that night.

 

[Len Lanetti]

Suzuki GS125 - 50mpg and 80mph max. Used to fill the 3 gallon tank once a week

Now the GSX1100R....that was another matter

Hmmm let me take a trip in the Wayback Machine...Honda CB100...I think it would go about 100 miles on a tank of gas. It wasn't a bad bike when I weighed about 100 pounds...I came home on leave from the Air Force after boot camp and tech school weighing about 145 pounds and the bike didn't have enough umph.

My fastest bike was my last bike, a Yamaha RZ350. I sold that in my early thirties to pay for flying time. That bike was not nearly as fast as the rockets I see today but it was light and fast in its day. Every so often I think I'd like to give one of the current generation pocket rockets a try.

My favorite bike was a Yamaha 650 twin. I'm sorry I ever sold that one. It was a good, simple bike that was comfortable to ride for long periods of time. The RZ was a close second in terms of favorites.

Len

 

[Frank Browne]

I actually avoided a speeding ticket once because I demonstrated to the officer who pulled me over that my speedometer wasn't working. I was out of town and it had died while on the trip.

Of course, that only worked once - all the other speeding tickets I've gotten my car was working just fine...

I've twice had speeding tickets reduced to warning tickets by being honest, apologetic, and polite to the officers. I think they can smell BS from a mile off and when they encounter the appropriate amount of contrition they seem to respond pretty well. But those Jax beach cops...well...they're a different matter.

 

[ausrere]

I've twice had speeding tickets reduced to warning tickets by being honest, apologetic, and polite to the officers. I think they can smell BS from a mile off and when they encounter the appropriate amount of contrition they seem to respond pretty well.

That used to work pretty well when I was doing the traffic beat. I HATED working traffic and it never took much to talk me into a warning, but some people just practically beg for a ticket.

I worked a stretch of highway next to a Navy base. It was not uncommon for me to stop several Navy personnel, including pilots, going to and from work at a high rate of speed. Most were extremely polite, apologized, promised never to do it again and got warnings. But there was the one that I remember who's first words out of his mouth when I asked him for his driver's license was a smug, "I'm a Navy Pilot". My response was "Good for you, so you do have a driver's license right?" He responded in an even more smug tone, "I said was a Navy fighter pilot!" I respond: "Being a Navy pilot gives you a license to break the sound barrier at altitude, but not on state highways. Now, unless you have a drivers license next to your military ID, you better start figuring out how to fly that F/A 18 from a jail cell". He decided to produce his driver’s license and he did get a ticket.

I stopped one of his squadron mates 10 minutes later who knew how to say "Yes ma'am" and "No ma'am" and he got a warning.

 

[SJP]

Hmmm let me take a trip in the Wayback Machine...Honda CB100...I think it would go about 100 miles on a tank of gas. It wasn't a bad bike when I weighed about 100 pounds...I came home on leave from the Air Force after boot camp and tech school weighing about 145 pounds and the bike didn't have enough umph.

My fastest bike was my last bike, a Yamaha RZ350. I sold that in my early thirties to pay for flying time. That bike was not nearly as fast as the rockets I see today but it was light and fast in its day. Every so often I think I'd like to give one of the current generation pocket rockets a try.

My favorite bike was a Yamaha 650 twin. I'm sorry I ever sold that one. It was a good, simple bike that was comfortable to ride for long periods of time. The RZ was a close second in terms of favorites.

Len

CB100 - A buddy had one of those - we called it the 'Wet Dream'...I'll leave the reader to infer why (or send me a PM!!)

Another buddy had the RZ350 (well, the UK equivalent, the RD350)- very quick in the power band especially with minor exhaust and reed updates - last of the road-racing 2-strokes as I recall. That 10k redline generated a sound from the twin 2s-stroke unlike any other

 

[gkainz]

I got my first speeding ticket in over 30 years a few months ago, when I got pulled over by a non-sympathetic Wyoming Highway Patrolman for 80 in a 65, as I was frantically trying to get to Rapid City, SD from Denver. Middle of Wyoming, late at night, the only other living souls besides my wife and I and the officer were the coyotes laughing at me from the ridge. I was on the phone with my sister in one of 3 spots across Wyoming that provides cell service when he pulled me over, and I handed the phone to my wife as he approached the car. My sister was in the hospital with my mom and dad as dad was being wheeling into emergency surgery. His heart stopped twice and he was revived as I was on the phone, so I guess you could say I was a little distracted.

When he asked me if I knew how fast I was going, I admitted that I honestly really didn't have a clue, and then explained what was going on with the phone calls. I got absolutely no response to my explanation except "sign here, sir" and a "slow down and drive safely".

Yep, I deserved the ticket, because I was speeding. But, I sure thought I deserved a little slack, considering the circumstances.

 

[Len Lanetti]

CB100 - A buddy had one of those - we called it the 'Wet Dream'...I'll leave the reader to infer why (or send me a PM!!)

I thought that title was reserved for the Honda 305. Oh well, I still think it was a great first bike...acquired for $100...I think insurance must have ran something like $25 a year or less.

Another buddy had the RZ350 (well, the UK equivalent, the RD350)- very quick in the power band especially with minor exhaust and reed updates - last of the road-racing 2-strokes as I recall. That 10k redline generated a sound from the twin 2s-stroke unlike any other

In the states the RD350 was from the early '70's...bumped up to the RD400 in '78 or '79 (I almost bought one of them instead of the 650 twin). A fellow in the neighborhood had an RD350 with a set of aftermarket pipes...made the bike very very quick but made the power band very small.

The RZ came out in the mid 80's - I think mine was an '85 or an '86. The big difference was the RZ was water cooled and there was some kind of "computer" controlled slide valves over the intake or exhaust ports. You had to have enough juice in the battery to cycle the slide valves and position them properlly when you turned the ignition on (otherwise the bike wouldn't start - at least that is thw ay I remember it). Wider power band than the RDs, never fouled the plugs even if I lugged it around below the power band. Hmmm, that would be a neat bike to have back. Unfortunitely the fellow I sold it to had a minor accident on the way home from buying it and totaled it in less than a week. Oh well, at least his check cleared.

Len

 

[ausrere]

non-sympathetic Wyoming Highway Patrolman

Well there's the problem.. IS there a sympathetic highway patrolman??

Seriously, those guys take their job very seriously and it's rare that ANYBODY can talk them out of ticket. That being said, my brother-in-law, a city cop, could pass as a highway patrolman any day. No one talks him out of a ticket. If he stopped you, you got a ticket. It didn't matter who you were or why you were speeding.

Me on the other hand, I was a push over for a sob story.. but I did arrest my best friend for public intoxication one time. She refused to give me her keys and was trying to get in her car AT THE POLICE STATION while drunk as a skunk. She had stopped to see if I wanted to go out after I got off work! She didn't talk to me for weeks, but at least she was alive to give me the silent treatment.

 

[JRitt]

I got clocked at 81mph in a 55 zone on my bike. The cop was going the opposite direction and turned on his lights and I stopped. He traveled 1/2mi up the road to turn around and when he finally got to me he asked why I was speeding. I said that the 45mph tail wind made it hard to jusde the speed. Every time I looked down I was speeding and slowed down. He said I seemed like an honest person because if I was not I could have just accelerated and he would never have seen me again (I was on a FZR1000). He asked how fast it would go and I said I have had it to 160mph on the german autoban. He let me go.

 

[kevin47881]

Leaving BNA one night while driving on a surface street I saw the cherries light up from an officer traveling in the opposite direction.
Knowing I was speeding, I pulled off on a side road and put it in park. A few minutes later the patrol car went past, turned around and stopped. I waited a couple minutes to see if he would approach but he just stayed about 150 feet in front of me. So, I drive up to him, roll down my window and say "I'm the one you clocked speeding". He looked at me like he saw a ghost. I follow up with "hey, I'm a big boy, I broke the law, you caught me. Ain't no need on making this any harder on either one of us as it needs to be". He actually begins to laugh, thanks me for the brutal honesty and tells me to have a good night.
Never did he check for a licence or insurance (both of which I had already pulled out).
I grew up around law enforcement my whole life and have found if you shoot them straight they will often give you a break.

 

[ggroves]

An 8 foot rug is a little big for a double-wide...what was she thinking....?

Greg
182RG

 

[poadeleted3]

An 8 foot rug is a little big for a double-wide...what was she thinking....?

Greg
182RG

Big?? The rinky dink $2500 single wide Cathy and I bought when I first started flying was 12X60. We coulda used a nice 8' rug in there. Not to mention some better curtains, and a few pictures, to cover up the patches I put in walls and windows to keep the place warm and fairly water proof LOL.

 

[Merf]

Fella I used to work with traveled from Houston to Beaumont every morning for work (1.5 hrs)...had to leave around 4:30. Remember, no traffic on the road at this hour...

Got pulled over 90 in 65.

Officer: "Sir, can you explain why you were going so fast?"

Driver: "Just trying to keep up with the traffic flow"

Officer: "Sir, there's not a vehicle within 10 miles of us!"

Driver: "Ain't doing a very good job am I!!"

He let him go! If it'd been me I'd be in cuffs.....


Back where I grew up an ol' Farmer got pulled over and it really upset him when the officer began writing the ticket out.

Farmer: "Sir, is it against the law to call you a sorry bas#$@@d??"

Officer (after brief astonished pause): "That's very much against the law, sir!"

Farmer: "mmm, I see....well...is it agains the law to think your a sorry bas@@#d"

Officer (now amused, and discontinuing his writing): "No sir, you may think anything you like"

Farmer: :Good! I think you're a sorry ba@$$@d!!!"

Merf

 

[jkaduk]

I stopped one of his squadron mates 10 minutes later who knew how to say "Yes ma'am" and "No ma'am" and he got a warning.

I've always been polite, and I've never got off with a warning. I even got a ticket on my bicycle once.

 

[Anthony]

I even got a ticket on my bicycle once.

Ha! Too funny

Don Rickles in "Kelly's Heroes"

Crap game: Make a deal!

Big Joe: What kind of deal?

Crap Game: A deal, deal!....... Maybe he's a Republican.

 

[wsuffa]

I even got a ticket on my bicycle once.

Reminds me of the news story of a guy that got a ticket for DWI.... while riding a horse.

 

[ausrere]

I've always been polite, and I've never got off with a warning. I even got a ticket on my bicycle once.

Ha, Ha. I have to admit..I've done that. Written a ticket to someone on a bicycle that is. Only once, and it was three of them.. darting thru stops signs out in front of traffic after they had been warned several times to stop. One of the more off the wall tickets I've written.

Another odd one (for a city cop anyway) was a fishing without a license ticket. Wrote that twice to a guy who didn't seem to understand my suggestion he go get one to keep the guys with a license from complaining on him. I was tired of getting the call, and assured him a third time would land him in jail and curtail his fishing for awhile.

Being polite is not a guarantee that you won't get a ticket of course, but it sure helps!

 

[Tom-D]

I once owned a 66 XLCH sporster that had been bored stroked, and preformance cams, and balanced. I was enroute San Diego -> Fallon for a 3 week det. I was crossing the Call/Nev. border at Mountgomery pass between Bishop Ca. and Hawthorn Nev which is down hill for about 40 miles of black velvet with out any turns and I was letting the sporster run wide open.

When I slowed down to have a beer at the El Capitan Casino I saw a Nv. state trooper pull up behind me and turn the lights. When he came alomg side the bike he asked me if I knew the Nv. speed limit, I told him I didn't think Nv. had one. He said it was safe and prudent for conditions. and the speed I was going was not safe or prudent for any condition.

The Ticket cost me $155.00 in 1967

 

[Len Lanetti]

Tom,

$155...that was proabably at least a month's take home pay.

Len