Spector ruled not guilty for disappearing ticket

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Baltimore City Council member Rochelle “Rikki” Spector said she was vindicated Wednesday from a controversial traffic ticket that disappeared — then reappeared — in court records.

Spector was found not guilty in Baltimore City District Court on Wabash Avenue, after the traffic officer who issued her the ticket for failing to obey a command didn’t show up.

“Wasn’t that a blessing?” asked Spector, known as the dean of the city council. “All along I said I was going to tell it to the judge.”

Spector was facing a $290 fine for a Nov. 11 ticket, which city Department of Transportation officials didn’t enter into court records after Spector complained.

Transportation officials said the ticket had been “abated” after an investigation concluded the agent did not communicate properly with Spector.

Only after The Examiner obtained a copy of the ticket four months later and published articles questioning why it had never been entered into court records did officials forward the citation to District Court.

Spector maintains that she merely complained to transportation officials that the officer behaved inappropriately and that she never asked them to quash the ticket outside of the legal process.

“I don’t ever try to buck the policies of the authorities,” she said. “I don’t have a chauffeur. I drive myself. I never go in a tow-away, fire zone or a handicapped spot. Sometimes I get parking tickets, because I don’t know how long I’m going to be at a certain place. I bring the ticket in. I want to testify and I want to tell it to the judge. I was certainly not going to disobey an officer.”

Records recounting the officer’s version of events indicate Spector failed to obey orders to drive straight through the intersection of Lombard and South streets. Instead, Spector tried to make a turn.

Spector later said that she was late for a banquet; the officer gave different instructions from the traffic light; and the officer became rude, screamed at her and then exacerbated a traffic jam by detaining Spector’s car in an intersection for 20 minutes, blocking traffic.

“When I brought it to the attention of Transportation, I told them, ‘These people need to expedite traffic and they need to be courteous,’ ” she said. “They are ambassadors for the city.”

 She said her complaints helped persuade the city to hire Kenneth Unitas, of Unitas Investigative Services Inc., a former Anne Arundel County police officer, to provide better training for traffic officers.

“I’m satisfied that some improvement has come out of this,” she said. “I’m 71 years old, but I’m still full of piss and vinegar. I hope I’m never in this predicament again.”

Examiner Staff Writer Stephen Janis contributed to this report.

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com

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