NEWBURGH HEIGHTS, Ohio (WJW) -- The FOX 8 I-Team has found a driver was hit with the same speed camera ticket twice, even though the ticket showed an SUV that didn’t belong to him.
The ticket comes from Newburgh Heights along Interstate 77, where we keep uncovering chaos with speed cameras.
You would expect the cop with the camera to ticket the correct driver, but consider what happened to Todd Vitek: Newburgh Heights police sent him a ticket for a speeding white SUV, yet he drives a blue pickup. He got that same ticket twice.
"To me, they're just looking for money. Just, you know, sending out tickets, hoping they're getting it. There's a lot of folks out there that would have paid the ticket," he told us.
We confirmed through the Garfield Heights court that the first time Vitek got that ticket, he had it dismissed.
Then he got the same ticket again, although his truck looks nothing like the picture taken by police.
"Here's a car that they think is mine, but I'm the one getting the tickets. It’s starting to get really frustrating," Vitek added.
This case came to light after a judge found Newburgh Heights breaking the law. The village had stopped filing I-77 camera tickets in court.
Judge Deborah Nicastro ordered the village to pay more than $25,000 in court fees and to go back and file thousands of tickets.
The Newburgh Heights mayor refuses to talk to us about the matter, even though the village council and the police chief blame her for the issues with the court.
At a recent meeting, the Newburgh Heights police chief blamed the mayor, then he wouldn’t answer questions.
Back to Vitek's case: He just had that same ticket that should have gone to someone else dismissed a second time. This time, the Garfield Heights court issued an order to Newburgh Heights to cease and desist -- stop bothering this driver and demanding money.
"And it wouldn't have gotten this far if you guys didn’t help, that’s for sure," Vitek told the I-Team.
Newburgh Heights issued tens of thousands of speed camera tickets. Now, a court has found the village broke the law and sent a driver someone else’s ticket twice.