Town of Poughkeepsie Issues Parking Ticket For Car 400 Miles Away

A woman from Niagra County was stuck with a $300 parking ticket she says was a scam.

Angela Connery from Wheatfield, NY called her local TV station, WVIB, after she claims the Town of Poughkeepsie wrongfully issued her a summons for parking in a handicapped spot. Connery says she has never been to Poughkeepsie and doesn't "even really know where it is."

In fact, Connery lives nearly 400 miles away from the Hudson Valley. Driving to Poughkeepsie just to park illegally would have been an 11 hours round-trip for this mother of three who just so happened to be working a double shift that day. Connery says the ticket was issued on January 2. That day, she put in 16 hours at her job, making it highly unlikely that she took her 14-year-old Pontiac Vibe on a joyride to Poughkeepsie just for the thrill of parking in a forbidden spot.

The ticket from the Town Justice Court in Poughkeepsie insisted that Connery had "parked illegally in a handicapped space." Because she didn't pay a fine of $125, the fine had ballooned to $300. The upstate woman tried to contact both the town and the company that processes the parking tickets but couldn't seem to get anyone on the line.

McConnell Adams

That's when she contacted News 4 for help. The Niagra County television station was able to get the company that processes Poughkeepsie's parking tickets on the phone. After explaining the situation, FBS Justice Solutions told News 4 that the ticket had miraculously been "taken out of the system" and the Wheatfield woman would no longer be responsible for paying it.

It's unclear what happened to cause this mixup, but Connery is just happy to finally be in the clear. Now if it were only this easy to get "mistakes" like these cleared up by local residents who claim they've been also been unfairly charged for parking violations.

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