The last 30 days or so haven’t been good for this Detroit suburb of about 47,500 people in Macomb County. If your house isn’t swallowed by a nearby sinkhole, or you miss out on the school board vice president’s offensive remarks, maybe you’ll get a ticket for warming up your car in your own driveway.
That’s according to a social media post that’s been shared more than 8,600 times by Taylor Trupiano (who goes by Nick Taylor online) and confirmed by Roseville Police.
Trupiano apparently was letting his car warm up in his own driveway with the keys in. Roseville Police saw this and issued him a $128 ticket for it while the alleged offender was, as Trupiano described it, “running inside for 7-8 minutes” to drop off some diapers.
When asked by local media about the ticket, the Roseville police chief didn’t apologize. He doubled down.
“I encourage our officers to write this ticket,” Roseville Police Chief James Berlin told WWJ.
Berlin also said to WXYZ that they have five to ten cars stolen that way every winter and also that it drives everyone’s insurance rates up as well as crime rates for the city.
The chief says it’s “common sense” to not leave your car unattended. Sure, it might be in the view of some. But is it government’s role to enforce that? The incident has ignited a loud debate.
Do we want police looking for cars warming up in driveways and figuring out if they’re remote start as to not run afoul of the ordinance as a priority? Especially on private property?
Although there isn’t a state law about this, there are various local ordinances. We’ve embedded the ticket below.
Trupiano had some strong words for the specific officer, calling him a name. You can see it if you click through the embedded photo. He did apologize on Facebook for the comment, and added that he respects officers for what they do every day.
Reportedly Trupiano has been getting offers from local lawyers to help him with the ticket.