Man’s attempt to pull out of parking spot is truly awful (with video)

Sarah Galet, assistant manager of Sports Clips, a barbershop in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, looked out the window of her workplace and noticed something unusual. She told WTAE Action 4 News, "I was standing up here and I see this guy backing out of his parking spot, but I knew he couldn't.” A driver’s attempt to get out his parking spot was so terrible that she rushed and told her co-workers. One of those co-workers, Ashley Miller, took out her phone and started to record it.

The driver, who hasn’t been named, was trying to back up his Honda CR-V but somehow managed to position his vehicle so that it was perpendicular to the cars parked next to it. Ms. Miller told WTAE, “This guy is literally diagonal getting ready to hit this car. I'm standing there like, 'This isn't real. Wehave to videotape this.’ Who does that? Who decides to pull out like that?” Ms. Miller recorded the Austin Powers-esque driving on her phone, and eventually captured footage of the man hitting another car.

(WTAE)

Ms. Galet recognized the car that the Honda driver hit as one that belonged to her friend’s father, who was in a business next door. That’s when the driver tried to take off. She told WTAE, “One of the girls ran out and she was like, ‘You’re not leaving, you’re not leaving.’ He was like, ‘I have to go, I have to go.’ And, so, finally, he like stood and waited for the police to come. But, he got stuck like that. So, he had to wait for somebody to move.”

WTAE tried speaking with the driver, but say he wasn’t home when they came calling. The station also reports that Monroeville Police took a report, but because the driver didn’t actually leave, no crime was committed. The Honda driver and the owner of the car he hit exchanged insurance information.

More info: WTAE

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Bad parking leads to wanted man's arrest in NY

ROTTERDAM, N.Y. (AP) — State police say bad parking led to the apprehension of an upstate New York man wanted on a probation violation.

Troopers say a state police investigator spotted 23-year-old Matthew Bergeron of Richmondville on Thursday afternoon as he tried to back a vehicle into a parking space at a truck stop in Rotterdam in Schenectady (skeh-NEHK'-ta-dee) County.

Police say Bergeron parked crookedly, straddling two spaces, then walked away from the vehicle.

The investigator knew Bergeron from previous arrests. He also knew that Bergeron was a suspect in a burglary and was wanted on outstanding warrants in neighboring Schoharie (skoh-HAYR'-ee) County.

Police say Bergeron was taken into custody without incident. He was sent to the Schoharie County jail.

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Boston woman pays $560,000 for 2 parking spots

BOSTON (AP) — Parking is such a precious commodity in Boston that one woman was willing to pay $560,000 for two off-street spaces near her home.

Lisa Blumenthal won the spots in the city's Back Bay neighborhood during an on-site auction Thursday held in a steady rain by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS had seized the spots from a man who owed back taxes.

Blumenthal, who lives in a multimillion-dollar home near the parking spaces, tells The Boston Globe (http://b.globe.com/13KqntI ) she didn't expect the bidding to go quite so high for the spots she says will come in handy for guests and workers.

The record for a single spot in Boston is $300,000.

The median price of a single-family home in Massachusetts is $313,000.

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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/globe

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City sues ‘Robin Hood’ group over parking meter payments

File photo of an expired parking meter (Thinkstock)

The city of Keene, New Hampshire, is suing a group of do-gooders for allegedly topping off parking meters of strangers.

The group, which calls itself "Robin Hood and his Merry Men," likes to leave notes on the windshields of cars that are in danger of getting a ticket due to an expired meter, according to the Union Leader.

A note reads, "Your meter expired; however, we saved you from the king’s tariffs, Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Please consider paying it forward.” The note then lists an address where people can send donations if they wish.

According to the Union Leader, the city claims Robin Hood and his Merry Men have "intentionally taunted, interfered with, harassed and intimidated" the city's three parking enforcement officers. The suit also alleges that the group follows the parking enforcement officers around the city and uses video and radio equipment to coordinate their efforts.

All told, six citizens are named in the city's lawsuit. One of the defendants, James Cleaveland, spoke to the Union Leader about it. "They say video recording or talking to them is harassing them, but I don't agree with that," he said. "So they want to establish a safety zone of fifty feet."

The lawsuit, according to the Union Leader, lists a bit of trash-talking on the part of the Robin Hooders.

In the filing, parking enforcement officer Linda Desruisseaux said, "Besides following me, crowding around me, making video recordings of my activities, and placing coins in expired meters to prevent me from writing tickets, these individuals repeatedly taunt and harass me, asking why I am stealing peoples' money and telling me to get another job ... In particular, Graham Colson likes to taunt me by saying, 'Linda, guess what you're not going to do today - write tickets.' ... The taunting and harassment tends to get worse when there is a group, as they try to one-up each other at my expense.

Another parking enforcement officer claims that he suffers from heart palpitations, stress and anxiety, and "dreams related to this activity."

The city is concerned that the parking enforcement officers will quit, according to the Union Leader. That would cause a financial hardship, because the city would have to hire and train new officers, the suit claims.

Members of the group were issued the lawsuit last week and have 30 days to respond.

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NH city sues parking meter 'Robin Hood' group

KEENE, N.H. (AP) — The city of Keene, N.H., has sued a group that feeds change into parking meters that are about to expire, saying members are harassing enforcement officers.

The group calls itself "Robin Hood of Keene." Members walk city streets with rolls and dimes of quarters to feed the meters.

WMUR-TV reports (http://bit.ly/10Gn9VW) the city accuses the group of interfering with officers' work. It asks them to stay at least 50 feet away.

The group records its time outside and posts videos online, sometimes showing members following the officers.

The city says one officer suffered stress, anxiety and heart palpitations from the group's actions.

Group member Garret Ean says he's not trying to cause any medical problems. He says he tries to keep a good demeanor with all the parking meter enforcers.

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Information from: WMUR-TV, http://wmur.com

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3 accused of smoking pot in NJ police parking lot

TOTOWA, N.J. (AP) — State troopers in northern New Jersey didn't have to go far to make a pot bust. They didn't even have to get in their cruisers.

Police say they caught three men lighting up in a car in the parking lot of the barracks in Totowa (TOH'-toh-wah).

What gave the men away? Police say a trooper setting out for night patrol caught a whiff of marijuana.

The three men were charged with drug possession. Police say they were waiting for another man who was inside the station picking up paperwork for an impounded car. He was also charged with drug possession.

Authorities say for some reason, the men didn't expect to see a trooper in the parking lot of the state police barracks.

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Facebook video flip the parking ticket in Israel

Jerusalem (AP)-an Israeli woman has turned to Facebook to beat a parking ticket — and expose a crew of street in Tel Aviv.

Hila Ben Baruch says he has parked his car legally near his Tel Aviv home only to find that it's gone and replaced with a handicapped parking sign. Municipality of she slapped with more than $ 300 fine. Making matters worse, says that a city representative accused of lying when he called to complain.
Determined to prove his innocence, he obtained footage from a security camera showing municipal workers disabled symbol painted under his car, then via the towing vehicle.
She told Channel 2 that she was "distraught". The video, put it on Facebook, went viral.
The municipality of Tel Aviv has apologized and refunded fines.

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