First the sleeper, now the wheechair-bound?
Regular Tattler and John Kass readers know the saga of the guy ticketed for sleeping on the train.
Now comes an incredible story from an emailer. I've not been able to independently verify this story, but it doesn't surprise me. This is a letter she sent to CTA President Frank Kruesi:
"Dear CTA President Frank Kruesi,
"I am visiting the US from Costa Rica. On the second day of my four-day visit to Chicago, I was ticketed after not sliding my card through the handicapped entrance at the Chicago stop on the Red line.
"I was following another CTA customer through this entrance and was unaware that this was paying turnstile. I expected to put my card through a traditional turnstile after passing through this entrance.
"The ticketing officer, a woman from CTA unit 701, badge number 10805 could not care less that I was a tourist who had never been to Chicago, and had been living overseas for the past 3 ½ years. I stated I simply did not know that I was doing anything wrong. For what I thought was a minor offense, she threatened that I could be handcuffed.
"I offered to go back through the handicap entrance and put my card through, but she would not allow me to. I offered to pay the $50 fine on the spot because I would be leaving Chicago in less that 48 hours and did not have a checkbook to mail in my payment. She refused. Does the CTA have a daily quota or do they just like to harass tourists?"
Hmmm... good question there....
You think Chicago is bad, the following is from today's Washington Post (the link requires registration)
"Sakinah Aaron was walking into the bus area at the Wheaton Metro station several weeks ago, talking loudly on her Motorola cell phone. A little too loudly for Officer George Saoutis of the Metro Transit Police.
The police officer told Aaron, who is five months pregnant, to lower her voice. She told the officer he had no right to tell her how to speak into her cell phone.
Sakinah Aaron says she was speaking loudly on the phone but not cursing.
Their verbal dispute quickly escalated, and Saoutis grabbed Aaron by the arm and pushed her to the ground. He handcuffed the 23-year-old woman, called for backup and took her to a cell where she was held for three hours before being released to her aunt. She was charged with two misdemeanors: 'disorderly manner that disturbed the public peace' and resisting arrest.
Those are the facts on which both sides agree."
The remainder of the story is at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55325-2004Sep27.html?referrer%3Demail
Posted by: David | September 28, 2004 at 08:40 AM