ROCKLAND, Maine — Motorists who have collected a slew of unpaid parking tickets are at risk of getting the boot.
A station wagon parked in the city-owned parking lot in the rear of the Thorndike complex was the latest vehicle that had a disabling device, known as a boot, attached to a tire by the Rockland Police Department. The owner of the vehicle, who police would not identify, paid off his tickets and the $25 additional fee to have the boot removed so the car could be driven again, Chief Bruce Boucher said Thursday.
The boot placed on the vehicle was the first one this year. The chief said the boot has been used 28 times since 2006 and on only three vehicles last year.
The city ordinance states that a person with three or more parking tickets which are overdue can have their vehicle disabled with the boot.
Boucher said letters are generally sent out at this time of the year to remind motorists who have unpaid tickets. Ninety-nine past due parking notices were sent out last week as well as four letters to motorists who qualified for getting the boot, he said.
Of the 1,554 parking tickets issued by the department last year, 174 remain unpaid for a total of $7,620.