Michigan Man Tries to Pay Parking Ticket in Pennies, Gets Choked by Court Officer

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Summary: A Michigan man was choked until he passed out by a court officer after trying to pay his parking ticket in pennies.

A Michigan man’s day got a lot worse after receiving a parking ticket. Anthony Sevy received the $10 parking ticket in the city of Royal Oak, near Detroit, Michigan. When he tried to pay the ticket, he ended up getting choked by a court officer.

  

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Sevy, a 33-year-old real estate broker, went to the district court to pay the ticket. When he tried to pay with his credit card, the clerk told him there would be an additional $1.75 service fee. This did not make Sevy happy so he left to get the money to pay the fee. He ended up coming back with rolls of pennies. His attorney, Jonathan Marco, said, “He wasn’t happy about it so, in symbolic protest, he brought back penny rolls to pay for his ticket. The clerk wasn’t too happy about that, they refused to allow him to pay with penny rolls.” At least Sevy was willing to pay with the pennies neatly rolled instead of in jars like Rebecca Bloomwood did in the movie “Confessions of a Shopaholic.”

The surveillance video in the district courthouse shows Sevy at the counter trying to pay his ticket when two court officers come up to him. They escort Sevy from the building but before they could get through the lobby doors, the officer throws Sevy to the ground from behind and chokes him. The officer holds the chokehold until Sevy passed out. Marco said, “As he was leaving the courthouse with his back to the officer, the court officer began to choke him out, grabbing him, brought him to the ground. I don’t think that in the everyday course of business, we poop our pants or go around defecating ourselves.”

The Detroit News reported that the clerk told him they would not accept coins as payment when they were rolled.

When Sevy passed out, he defecated himself. Sevy can be seen being led away by the guards. They arrested him and threw him in jail for over 24 hours. Sevy ended up pleading no contest to disturbing the peace.

He is now suing the court officers. He filed the suit in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan on November 22. Marco said, “I don’t think anyone paying in penny rolls, whether it’s a preferred thing to do for a court clerk, warrants this type of this assaultive behavior and violation of constitutional rights.”

Marco says his client was the victim. “I think the more profound and long-lasting injury is the psychological injuries he’s suffering as a result of this. (This district court is) supposed to be a safe place.”

Do you think there is anything wrong with how someone pays a ticket? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

To learn more about parking tickets, read these articles:

• Parking Ticket Discarded for Grammar Mistake
• Stanford Student’s “Robot Lawyer” Fights Parking Tickets in Seattle
• Attorneys John Thigpen Jr. and Kenneth Futch Exchange Fists

Photo: oxygen.com