The village of Stone Park says a motorist whose red light camera ticket was waived shouldn’t be allowed to lead a class action lawsuit that accuses Stone Park of improperly forcing people to challenge red light camera tickets that should never have been issued.
Last November, plaintiff Michael Tock filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court, seeking to bring a class action lawsuit against Stone Park on behalf of potentially hundreds of others who had received red light camera tickets for allegedly failing to stop when turning right on red at an intersection in the suburb watched over by a red light camera system.
According to the complaint, Tock had been ticketed, allegedly despite coming to a complete stop when he was turning right on red at the intersection of Mannheim Road and Lake Street in Stone Park, not far from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
Tock’s lawsuit claims others have been similarly ticketed.
While he successfully challenged the ticket, his lawsuit asserts the village has banked on the knowledge that many others will choose to simply pay the $100 fine, rather than invest the time and money to take a chance on getting the ticket dismissed at an administrative hearing.
The complaint notes state law specifically forbids counties, cities and villages from using such automated traffic law enforcement systems to ticket motorists who come to a complete stop before entering the intersection, when turning right on red, even if they stop “at a point past a stop line or crosswalk,” unless pedestrians are present.
On Dec. 29, however, attorneys for the village argued Tock’s lawsuit should be tossed.
They said the dismissal of Tock’s ticket indicates he and other would-be plaintiffs are afforded their constitutional right to challenge the citations, whether they believe the tickets were justified or not.
However, even if there may be cause to bring a class action, they argued Tock cannot be the one to lead it.
First, they again noted Tock’s ticket was dismissed, meaning he was never forced to pay any fine, whether justified or not.
Then, they further argued video evidence allegedly indicates Tock may have been properly cited, as they claim the wheels of his vehicle never actually stopped moving when he was making his turn.
They argued Tock had “misrepresented material facts in order to concoct a cause of action.”
“Plaintiff (Tock) never came to a ‘complete stop,’ nor did he stop before entering the intersection,” Stone Park asserted in its brief. “Plaintiff’s case in controversy ended when he was found not liable for a red-light violation citation after going before the hearing officer.
“Therefore, he has no standing to seek the declaratory relief on his behalf and on behalf of other putative plaintiffs.”
Stone Park is represented in the case by attorney Dominick L. Lanzito, of Peterson Johnson & Murray Chicago LLC, of Chicago.
Tock is represented by attorneys Richard F. Linden, of the firm of Lipman & Linden; Robert Fioretti, of Roth Fioretti; and Peter Bustamante, all of Chicago.