My Fabulous weekend

Okay, so the title is misleading. It was so NOT fabulous. People are asking like crazy what happened and why I almost got arrested on Monday night. Let me start from the begining...

Two months ago I was pulled over. You can read that story here. I blogged about he great incident back in February. Long story short, in case you don't want to go and read it there, is that I was pulled over for not having the "09" sticker on my back plate even though it was registered and I had the sticker stapled to the registration when the officer asked for it.

I did everything I was told to take care of it and the next week had an officer sign off on it at the police station and he was surprised that I got a ticket for it and laughed when he signed it. He was shocked the other guy didn't let me just put it on right then. Stupid! I turned it into the court just like he, and the officer that wrote the ticket, told me to. The lady there took the ticket and said, "wait a few minutes while I check to make sure we have all the paperwork for it since you are just barely at the 7 day mark." Heaven forbid that I would be right on time to do that right? She came back a few minutes later and said, "We've got everything. You are set and ready to go." She stamped the ticket and filed it. Dillan and I were on our way home.

Well, about a month later I got the ticket mailed back to me...with a post it note on it none the less. It says, "This is a $40 fine not a fix it. Please take care of this. Thank you." No other explaination, no clue who it is from. But it is stamped with the date that I "took care of it" from weeks before. I was upset about it and called my brother Matt(an attorney) who told me to contact the prosecuting attorney for the city and explain what happened and he would probably dismiss the whole thing. I tracked down the attorney, Mark Sorensen, and called him so many times. I left messages and he never called back. So for weeks I am getting no where.

Then on this past Saturday I get a letter in the mail saying that I have a warrant for my arrest! Great right? And it being Saturday, there is nothing I can do. So Monday was busy with yard work galore. I mowed the lawn and Jeremy tilled the garden. I had rented a tiller and the jeep and trailer were parked in front of the house for the evening.

Jeremy and I were loading up the tiller and a cop pulls up. He gets out and says, "You must be Martha." Um, yes. "Did you know you have a warrant for your arrest?" Um, let me explain my side of the story. I explained the whole thing to this guy. Did you know that the officers know you have a warrant, but have no idea what it is for? He had no clue until I told him. Wouldn't you approach someone with gun charges a little different than a traffic ticket? That is beside the point though. He aparently had run the plates on the jeep while it was parked out front when he drove by earlier.

The officer was soooo nice though. He felt really bad and was completely on my side on this one. He said, "In the 17 years I have been an officer I have never issued the ticket. We are told not to. You really need to go down and talk to Captain Budge and tell him what you told me and he will help you. I am going to walk away because I think this is ridiculous."

I packed Dillan up Tuesday morning and headed to the police station...again. The secretary called the Captain down for me and he and one of his officers stood there and listened to my story and their jaws just dropped. He was livid at his officer that issued the ticket, you could see it in his eyes. He said, "I will tell you that this officer has already been reprimanded for this ticket because he issued several the same week. We don't issue this ticket, especially if you were registered and had the sticker for him. That is stupid! I will take care of it. Give me a few minutes."

He came back with the paperwork that I had given him along with the sticky note and ticket. He photocopied everything for his own use and let me keep mine. He handed the stack back to me and said, "Here are the originals for your lawsuit against us. I will 27(run) your lisence in a couple days to make sure it doesn't get suspended and I will call you when I talk to the attorney to make sure everything is done." He apologized profusely and assured me that he will talk to the officer again and that he would take care of everything. He then asked, "Did my officer arrest you last night?" I told him no, but that I didn't want him to get in trouble because he was really nice and helped out a lot. He responded with, "Good, I am glad he didn't. I would be very upset if he did for something like this."

Captain Budge called an hour later on my cell phone and told me that everything was taken care of and that everything was dismissed and there should be no more issues. He apologized again for all the time, stress, and hassle and said, "If there is anything else you need, just come find me."

So, I was a criminal on the run...for a few days. I could sue if I wanted to, but the money I would get out of it wouldn't be enough for the hassle. If I had been arrested...that would be a different story. I have renewed faith in the LCPD. Thank you Captain Budge and the nice officer that stopped by Monday (I wish I had caught his name).