12/13/23 - Response from Court Clerk
re__c12-01237-22_citation.msg |
Good morning,
Since the ticket was issued to you, you or your attorney should appear in court to answer the ticket. You are scheduled to appear on January 4, 2023 at 9:30AM. You may discuss the situation with Mr. Zebulske and the Judge a that time.
Sincerely,
Jennifer A. Steele
Chief Clerk
North Tonawanda City Court
216 Payne Avenue
North Tonawanda, NY 14120
Phone: 716.845.7240
Fax: 716.280.6458
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Ewert <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2022 12:38 AM
To: Jennifer Steele <[email protected]>
Subject: C12-01237-22 Citation
Dear Jennifer,
I called about this previously and was given the city attorneys number…I’m not sure if I spoke to you or not. My purpose is primarily to not waste the courts, nor my own, time.
The citation is for a vehicle presumed not to be inspected, despite an inspection sticker in the window stating it was and that it was valid for a few months. If it were my own vehicle, or even one I borrowed from somebody, I’d probably just take the plea deal or what have taken the ticket to the police to inspect that it was taken care of (inspected) and they’d probably drop the citation. In this case, however, I was renting the vehicle from Hertz (to be specific, the one on Niagara Falls Blvd just north of Papa Johns.)
It’s not the first time I’ve rented with Hertz given I’ve been renting with Hertz almost as long as when my vehicle was totaled out in the flood in the area last year…I have all the rental record numbers to validate it.
This particular vehicle is the first that actually had an inspection sticker; given it had NYS plates. All of the other vehicles, including my current one, does not given they have out of state tags (FL primarily). I think in total I’ve had 3 different vehicles; a Chevy spark, the Hyundai in question for which I received the citation, and the current Honda Accord.
When Hertz sold the spark, it was the first time I had to transition into a different car, so I wasn’t familiar with the process, and just reserved for a new one at the NF BLVD location rather than the one I normally rent through in Rochester (Lehigh Station, Caitlin is very familiar with me if you want to call her to verify all of this). I think it was a day or so after that I got the citation, and the officer told me to contact Hertz and they’ll take care of it…I even asked him puzzled why I’m getting the citation when the tag itself showed that the inspection was still valid for a few more months and he said that his computer showed otherwise, that it expired earlier in the year I believe.
So I called Caitlin about it, and figured that was that, and mailed in the ticket pleading not guilty.
When I called the court as mentioned initially and given the city attorneys number…I left them a voicemail and didn’t get a response likewise. I didn’t respond to the plea offer that time, nor am I this time…how could I be liable for the inspection on a vehicle I rented from a company that should hold that responsibility given it’s their vehicle?
I couldn’t find an email address for Edward Zebulske, so I figured I’d give it a shot to email you and let you forward it to him if you prefer. To me it’s just a waste of the courts time and mine to try to persecute me for something I literally had no control over, and didn’t even know was an issue given the current seemingly valid inspection sticker in the window. Eventually the car was recalled a month or so later and taken off the road by hertz (all models throughout the country due to a known, unfixable safety recall) so I don’t drive that one anymore.
Kind regards,
Richard Thomas Ewert
82 Gilbert St, Apt 13-11
Le Roy, NY 14482
Sent from my iPhone
Please be CAREFUL when clicking links or opening attachments from external senders.
Since the ticket was issued to you, you or your attorney should appear in court to answer the ticket. You are scheduled to appear on January 4, 2023 at 9:30AM. You may discuss the situation with Mr. Zebulske and the Judge a that time.
Sincerely,
Jennifer A. Steele
Chief Clerk
North Tonawanda City Court
216 Payne Avenue
North Tonawanda, NY 14120
Phone: 716.845.7240
Fax: 716.280.6458
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Ewert <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2022 12:38 AM
To: Jennifer Steele <[email protected]>
Subject: C12-01237-22 Citation
Dear Jennifer,
I called about this previously and was given the city attorneys number…I’m not sure if I spoke to you or not. My purpose is primarily to not waste the courts, nor my own, time.
The citation is for a vehicle presumed not to be inspected, despite an inspection sticker in the window stating it was and that it was valid for a few months. If it were my own vehicle, or even one I borrowed from somebody, I’d probably just take the plea deal or what have taken the ticket to the police to inspect that it was taken care of (inspected) and they’d probably drop the citation. In this case, however, I was renting the vehicle from Hertz (to be specific, the one on Niagara Falls Blvd just north of Papa Johns.)
It’s not the first time I’ve rented with Hertz given I’ve been renting with Hertz almost as long as when my vehicle was totaled out in the flood in the area last year…I have all the rental record numbers to validate it.
This particular vehicle is the first that actually had an inspection sticker; given it had NYS plates. All of the other vehicles, including my current one, does not given they have out of state tags (FL primarily). I think in total I’ve had 3 different vehicles; a Chevy spark, the Hyundai in question for which I received the citation, and the current Honda Accord.
When Hertz sold the spark, it was the first time I had to transition into a different car, so I wasn’t familiar with the process, and just reserved for a new one at the NF BLVD location rather than the one I normally rent through in Rochester (Lehigh Station, Caitlin is very familiar with me if you want to call her to verify all of this). I think it was a day or so after that I got the citation, and the officer told me to contact Hertz and they’ll take care of it…I even asked him puzzled why I’m getting the citation when the tag itself showed that the inspection was still valid for a few more months and he said that his computer showed otherwise, that it expired earlier in the year I believe.
So I called Caitlin about it, and figured that was that, and mailed in the ticket pleading not guilty.
When I called the court as mentioned initially and given the city attorneys number…I left them a voicemail and didn’t get a response likewise. I didn’t respond to the plea offer that time, nor am I this time…how could I be liable for the inspection on a vehicle I rented from a company that should hold that responsibility given it’s their vehicle?
I couldn’t find an email address for Edward Zebulske, so I figured I’d give it a shot to email you and let you forward it to him if you prefer. To me it’s just a waste of the courts time and mine to try to persecute me for something I literally had no control over, and didn’t even know was an issue given the current seemingly valid inspection sticker in the window. Eventually the car was recalled a month or so later and taken off the road by hertz (all models throughout the country due to a known, unfixable safety recall) so I don’t drive that one anymore.
Kind regards,
Richard Thomas Ewert
82 Gilbert St, Apt 13-11
Le Roy, NY 14482
Sent from my iPhone
Please be CAREFUL when clicking links or opening attachments from external senders.