When a police officer issued Baltimore City Council member Rochelle “Rikki” Spector a citation in November for “willfully disobeying a lawful order,” the ticket was supposed to end up on the desk of a city prosecutor who would decide whether to take the matter to court.
But the ticket never made it that far.
The Baltimore City Department of Transportation stepped in on Spector?s behalf and had the Nov. 14 ticket “abated” ? meaning it was never entered into the state?s electronic records system and never slated for a court date, officials said.
With many Maryland residents fighting the city over alleged bogus parking tickets, the ease with which Spector?s citation vanished is concerning, watchdogs said.
“It raises eyebrows,” said Ryan O?Donnell, director of Common Cause Maryland, a political watchdog group. “It wouldn?t be the first time that people got suspicious about elected officials doing this for traffic tickets. It?s a question about transparency and accountability in Baltimore.”
An officer cited Spector, a District 5 Democrat who represents Northwest Baltimore, at 5:44 p.m. downtown at South and Lombard streets for “willfully disobeying a lawful order,” a civil charge that carries up to a $500 fine, according to a copy of the ticket obtained by The Examiner but not traceable in court records.
Shortly thereafter, the city DOT was asked to investigate the ticket, Adrienne Barnes, spokeswoman for the agency, said in an e-mail.
“The investigation revealed that there was a breakdown in communication between the issuing officer and the recipient of the citation,” Barnes said. “It was determined that the recipient did not understand the directive and was unclear as to what they were told to do. The citation was thereby recommended for abatement by filing the appropriate reports.”
Barnes did not specify who asked the DOT to intercede, and she did not respond to a follow-up question by press time.
“The [city] Department of Transportation can?t abate a state ticket,” council member Bernard “Jack” Young said in an interview Sunday. “After the officer issues the ticket, it is a state matter and only the state?s attorney can do that. I find this hard to believe.”
Barnes said transportation officials forwarded their “recommendation” for abatement to the Baltimore City State?s Attorney?s Office, but prosecutors said they never received the ticket.
“This one is not in the system and never scheduled,” Margaret Burns, spokeswoman for the city State?s Attorney?s Office, said in an e-mail. “It is likely that … the citation was removed from the process.”
Spector did not return phone calls seeking comment, made repeatedly since Friday, nor did she respond to a fax with a copy of the citation.
