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Parking ticket resurfaces after driver thought it had been dismissed, wants answers from City Court
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BATON ROUGE - A parking ticket has resurfaced for a man who thought he had it taken care of already. The court has no record of Joseph Saucier showing up for his court date in October and issued him a bench warrant for failure to appear.
Saucier received a parking ticket when he parked on Louisiana Avenue near St. Louis Street. He was there to address a separate ticket for a traffic violation. He took care of that ticket at City Court but when he returned to his car he found a yellow parking ticket on his window.
It was a parking violation for unpaid parking. Saucier isn't familiar with parking procedures downtown. Black parking kiosks can be found on nearly every corner of Downtown Baton Rouge and there are signs alerting drivers to pay. Except where Saucier parked and walked. When he walked from his car to the Court House there were no signs in his path, at least none that he saw.
"No signs of any kind," he said.
Saucier decided to fight the $10 parking ticket and came back to City Court on October 10. This time, he parked in the parking garage and got a receipt. Inside the courtroom, Saucier explained the parking situation. He says there was no judge in attendance but he was told his ticket would be dismissed.
"She said it was dismissed and I was free to go," Saucier said.
Last week Saucier received a red postcard in the mail saying he never came to court to address the parking ticket and he was in further trouble.
"They're trying to get me accountable for something that I took care of last month," he said.
The situation spooked Saucier who thought he was free and clear. Now the cost of the parking ticket is $60, but he plans to fight it.
Saucier got a new court date for December. The City Court phone lines were down this morning. A clerk told 2 On Your Side that the court has no record of Saucier being in a courtroom last month for the parking ticket. City Court also says it does not provide a receipt if a case is dismissed.
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