mitch

158 M 782 runs red light, makes illegal left turn

Jul 032015

Thursday, June 25, 2015. 15:00. The driver of SFMTA interceptor vehicle 158 M 782 exhibits blatantly criminal behavior by running a red light and making an illegal and unsafe left turn.

The driver should have stopped. The driver could have stopped. The driver chose not to stop.

SFMTA employees are NOT exempt from the California Vehicle Code, even while driving city vehicles. §21052 states that “The provisions of this code [ . . . ] apply to the drivers of all vehicles while engaged in the course of employment by this State [ and ] any municipal corporation [ . . . ].”

A violation of CA VC §21453(a) for running a red light results in a penalty and fees of at least $500. A violation of §22100(b) for the illegal left turn is at least $300. A violation of §22107 for the unsafe turn is at least $400. (It’s an unsafe turn because the driver was in the #3 lane and the #2 lane is marked as “NO LEFT TURN” meaning that its traffic was proceeding straight ahead, because any reasonable driver would know that you can’t make that left turn from the #3 lane, and because an SFMTA parking enforcement officer has special training that ensures they know they can’t make that left turn from the #3 lane.) Combine all those violations and the driver is also guilty of reckless driving, §23103(a) (“a person who drives a vehicle upon a highway in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property”). Reckless driving alone is upwards of a thousand dollars and possible jail time. The violation of §24603(a) for the brake light being out would be in all likelihood a “fix-it” ticket. All told, this driver would be looking at a couple thousand dollars in penalties and fees, plus points on their license (if they even still had a license after all was said and done).

This person has no business being on the payroll of the City of San Francisco. They should be terminated immediately. If you wonder why so many San Francisco residents have such a negative attitude of the SFMTA and DPT it is because we see on a regular basis the elitist “I-can-get-away-with-it-the-rules-don’t-apply-to-me” behavior exhibited by this employee.

But will the employee see any consequences of their criminal behavior? That’s doubtful.

A letter has been sent to SFMTA executive director Edward Resiskin, and to DPT supervisor Marie Holland. We’ll update this post when we hear back from them.

SFMTA: cute, single, and they’ll fix your tickets! (updated x 3)

except muni No Responses »

Nov 292011

below is the text of a letter i mailed on september 28, 2011, to SFMTA director ed reiskin. i included some photos in my letter to him, but i also mailed a copy of just the letter to district 6 supervisor jane kim and to san francisco mayor ed lee.

At 5:25 pm on Thursday, September 22, 2011, I was walking east on the north side of Mission Street, near the intersection of Mission and Jessie Street East. Mission Street is clearly marked as ‘tow away/no stopping’ between the hours of 4 pm and 6 pm. There was an illegally stopped vehicle just east of Jesse Street East, with the driver sitting at the wheel and the engine turned off. Stopped beside that car, in the traffic lane, was a DPT interceptor. Behind that interceptor was a second interceptor. And behind the two interceptors were three private vehicles; the private vehicles were being delayed because of the interceptors.

The driver of the illegally stopped vehicle was a young female. My first thought was simply that she was being told to move. As I got closer to the vehicles I could hear what the driver of the first interceptor was saying, and he wasn’t telling her to move. He said to her “You’re cute”, then asked “Are you single?” and then told her “If you ever need a ticket taken care of you can call me.” By then I had my cell phone out to take pictures. The driver of the first interceptor did not ticket the driver of the stopped vehicle, nor did the driver of the second interceptor. As I began to take pictures of the three vehicles, the two interceptors turned right onto Jesse Street East and parked on the side of the street near the Westfield mall. The driver of the first interceptor got out of his vehicle and walked back to the illegally stopped vehicle. The driver of the second interceptor stayed in his vehicle, slammed his door shut, and hid his face when he saw me coming to take pictures. As I walked across Jesse Street to get a distance shot of the two interceptors, the driver of the second interceptor got out of his vehicle, said “loser”, and asked sarcastically “did you get *that* on your phone?” By the time I had taken a few pictures the driver of the first interceptor had returned.

The pair then launched into what I am certain was a very well rehearsed performance about me harassing them. The driver of the first interceptor went so far as to call for the SFPD. Or, at least he pretended to. I waited for about five minutes before I started to leave, up Jesse Street East. The driver of the first interceptor told me “you have to wait for the PD”. I told him that I did not have to wait. As I walked away both drivers followed me up the street a short distance, the second driver calling me a coward for leaving. So I turned around and went back to the corner and waited some more. The driver of the first interceptor called again for the SFPD. After another five minutes or so I again started to leave, this time east on Mission. And again both drivers followed me for about twenty or thirty feet, all the while very discreetly taunting me. I turned around and yelled at the top of my lungs “leave me alone” (or maybe “get away from me”). They had adopted a gang mentality and were in fact harassing me. There were a lot of people on the sidewalk, and it seems that yelling at the top of my lungs drew unwanted attention to the two drivers so they turned around and left me alone. That is the last I saw of them.

Some facts:

The first interceptor was vehicle 158 M 789; CA exempt license plate 1035004; driven by an African-American male.
The second interceptor was vehicle 158 M 405; CA exempt license plate 1116781; driven by an Asian-American male (although he did have on sunglasses and a helmet so I may be mistaken.)
The illegally stopped vehicle had California license plate 6EUR248, and as of September 28 has not been issued a citation for having been illegally stopped at that location.
My interaction with the two interceptor drivers lasted approximately 10-12 minutes. I have several photos and videos of that interaction, as does the driver of the first interceptor. I am sure he has saved them and will make them available to you.
At one point, the driver of the second interceptor said to me, “don’t you have anything better to do than harass people while they work?” Is that what he’s calling it: “work”?
The interceptor drivers should have been enforcing parking regulations. Instead, at least one of them was flirting with the driver of an illegally stopped vehicle, not ticketing her, exchanging contact information, and offering to “take care of” any tickets she might get (which is either soliciting a bribe, or an abuse of authority: was she pressured into giving her phone number to the parking officer in exchange for not receiving a parking citation?) All while unnecessarily blocking traffic on one of the city’s busiest streets during rush hour.
At one point, the driver of the second interceptor said to me, “you did brush up against him” (referring to the driver of the first interceptor.) That is a lie. At no point did I have any physical contact with either of the drivers.
At one point, the driver of the second interceptor said to me, “why is your hand shaking? Is it because you know you’re wrong?” Please explain to me the relevance of me having a shaky hand? And no, I am not wrong. I was documenting the illegal and despicable behavior of two city employees.

My understanding is that MTA officers have no discretion when issuing parking tickets. As such, the illegally stopped vehicle should have received a citation but no citation has been issued.

The driver of the first interceptor made two calls for the SFPD. Both times, he used the radio that was attached at his shoulder. I am sure those calls from the driver to dispatch are recorded and archived. If those calls don’t exist then that is just another of several lies that the drivers are involved in. Just as a data point, during both calls I could hear the driver describe me as an “AWM”.

What we have is two city employees engaging in unprofessional and illegal behavior and then conspiring to fabricate a story of harassment when they realized a tax-paying resident of San Francisco was documenting their behavior.

The drivers allege that I was harassing them. Is it standard procedure to file a report in such cases? Did these employees file an official report? If not, why?

SFMTA has a very visible campaign stating that harassment against its employees will not be tolerated and will be investigated and prosecuted. I trust the same commitment stands when it is an SFMTA employee (or two) doing the lying and harassing? These drivers must be terminated for cause and lose all benefits and pensions. They have no business being supported by my tax dollars, any tax dollars, or representing my city.

I demand and expect a formal investigation into this matter. This letter represents a true and accurate account of the events. What I will do is sign a sworn statement to that effect, testify in court, submit to a polygraph test, swear on a stack of bibles, or whatever else it takes to convince people of the truth. (Will these interceptor drivers do the same?) What I will not do is tolerate my tax dollars being spent on salaries, benefits, and pensions for employee behavior like this: it is unprofessional; it is illegal; and it is repugnant.

I await your response.

$cute girl\'s car$

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update: 29-nov-2011

guess what? today is november 29th and i’m still awaiting a response … from anyone. neither reiskin, nor kim, nor lee has had the courtesy to respond to my letter. so i can only imagine that they haven’t bothered to investigate anything, either.

then, around the end of october, i was walking by this same location again and who did i see? the driver of interceptor number one, parked in the same place, in a red zone by the westfield mall. there was also a second driver with him, but it was not the same driver that was with him on september 22. so he’s parked in a red zone. again. on a break. here’s a blog entry that raises awareness that this type of thing happens all the time. and, according to that blog entry, it also resulted in a commitment from “john haley, the MTA’s director of transit operations who also oversees parking enforcement” to remind SFMTA employees that they, too, need to follow the traffic code. so in addition to trying to bribe his way into a date with an illegally parked cute, single, girl, this SFMTA employee thinks he is above the law, at least when it comes to the vehicle code.

update: 06-dec-2011

i mailed a follow-up letter via certified mail to all three parties, simply asking if anyone intends to look into the matter.

update: 15-jan-2012

yesterday, 14-jan-2012, i received a response from sfmta supervisor curtis smith, who writes

I have completed the investigation in reference to your complaint. The complaint has been classified as not sustained, which means the conduct complained of cannot be proved or disproved.

Even though this complaint could not be sustained, the investigative file will be maintained for future reference. Should this officer receive a complaint in the future alleging similar conduct this file may be used in determining the outcome of that investigation.

a redacted copy of the letter can be found below.

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158 M 744

except muni No Responses »

May 202010

as of this writing, blocking a fire hydrant is a violation of the california vehicle code (section 22514) and will cost you about $90.

today — 05/20/2010 — i saw san francisco mta interceptor “158 M 744” parked in front of a fire hydrant in the 400 block of natoma street so i snapped these pictures. the time was 2:26 pm.

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one errand and thirty minutes later i was back at the same location and the interceptor was still in the same spot. coincidentally, the driver happened to be exiting a tavern/restaurant. i took this video. the time was 2:56 pm.

transcript of the video:

mta agent: why are you taking pictures of my car?

me: you are illegally parked.

mta agent: really?

mta agent: so you have nothing better else to do?

mta agent: [chats with friend]

mta agent: you have nothing better else to do?

mta agent: let me stand in front of it for you.

mta agent: [pokes her head out of vehicle as she drives away] creep.

the driver was in a tavern/restaurant. no problem there. but where there is a problem is that she thinks she is above the law. she was parked for at least 30 minutes — but obviously more — in front of a fire hydrant. that’s an offense that very few get away with. but for some reason she thinks it is ok for her. it is not.

and is it okay for her to belittle people by calling them a “creep”? if anyone did that to an mta agent i imagine they would be subject to charges of harassment. to wit, note the “tough jobs” bumper sticker. but, just as with the parking rules, she seems to think other rules don’t apply.

and i sure hope she was not drinking in the tavern/restaurant and then driving. but then again i would imagine she thinks those rules don’t apply to her either.

i doubt this was a one-time lapse of judgment. i imagine it’s more of an every-day occurrence.

so driver: take the shame, pay your $90 fine, and resign.

john haley, nathaniel ford, sr. … what do you have to say?

the residents of san francisco deserve better. the residents of san francisco demand better.

and we want our $90. “really.”

Driver of SF DPT vehicle 158 602 urinating on the street

except muni No Responses »

Mar 252008

i’m walking on minna street, near fifth street, in the underpass that is formed by the san francisco chronicle building. i come upon the driver of a san francisco department of parking and traffic truck pulled up on the curb. he’s against the side of the vehicle taking a leak. three o’clock in the afternoon. the pictures are kind of shabby because they were taken with a low-res camera phone, but you can see he’s a white guy with a full-sleeve tattoo on his right arm. i took a snap of the puddle he left behind.

let’s not forget that these are the folks we pay handsomely to take care of our city.

like any bad dog, he should have had his nose rubbed in it.

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