A Laval resident whose vehicle was stolen last February must now challenge a traffic ticket he says he received after the thieves abandoned his car on Montreal streets.
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“This $90 violation could have saved me about $45,000 in claims,” denounces Yannick Paquette.
The victim regrets that city employees did not contact him when they found his car.
“A week exactly after February 9th there was a ticket for Rav4, I now know exactly where it was, but I didn't hear anything,” the man complains in an interview on LCN.
TVA News
Additionally, Mr. Paquette was informed that thieves have a habit of leaving vehicles on the road for a few days to ensure they do not have a GPS tracking device.
The criminals then take the cars to the port of Montreal and ship them to other countries.
“So he found my car, no one told me, no one saw it in time,” he said desperately.
According to him, the ticket could have allowed him to find his vehicle if communication with the city of Montreal had been sufficient.
City of Montreal response
To compound his unfortunate situation, Mr. Paquette must now travel to Montreal on March 26 to contest the violation report.
“The absurdity of this is that I was given a ticket, it was mailed to me, I'm contesting it, and I have to drive five hours back and forth to argue in front of a judge,” he explains.
In response to TVA Nouvelles' request, the City of Montreal replied by email that the victim could communicate with the prosecutor in advance and that the prosecution could be dropped by presenting the evidence.
However, Mr. Paquette claims that he has already taken these steps and has yet to appear in City Court next March.