Get Marty: Man Questions Traffic Ticket After Stop Caught On Camera
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A local man was upset to get a traffic ticket for running a stop sign, especially since he says he came to a complete stop – and caught it on camera.
"At this point I see the cruiser with its lights coming up very quickly behind me," said Randy Kratofil.
Kratofil returned to the scene of the crime in Jefferson Hills, where he, a dash cam, a stop sign and a Jefferson Hill Police car collided – kind of.
"You know what, I was at a dead stop," said Kratofil.
This turns out to be a complex story about something as simple as a stop sign, with all of it caught on tape.
The video is from a dash cam placed in Kratofil's car. It shows him pulling up to a stop sign, coming to a complete stop and pulling away.
As he drives away, he is pulled over by two Jefferson Hills Police officers. One of the officers writes him a ticket and explains why.
"Reason we are stopping you, you didn't stop at the stop sign," Kratofil says police told him. "We've been getting complaints from the residents."
The officer gave Kratofil a $127 ticket that comes with a possible three-point driver's license penalty.
"My professional opinion, this is a clear-cut case he definitely stopped the vehicle," said Jim Clair with Ultimate Defense Driving.
Clair is a professional defense driving instructor. He watched the video five or six times with other instructors. Clair saw something on the dash cam video most amateurs would miss.
"When we instruct, we want them to rock back," said Clair said. "You can actually see that in the video, which tells me that person stopped."
It's obvious that people run that stop sign a lot.
"You could find that out," Kratofil said.
In fact, as we talked to Kratofil, a large truck rolls right through the stop sign.
"I've seen cars not stop here," he said. "But when I came to a complete stop, I should be the one getting a ticket for that."
We reached out to the Jefferson Hills Police Department. We sent the dash cam video to Police Chief Gene Roach. The chief watched the video, conducted his own investigation and asked the officer who wrote the ticket to withdraw it.
Kratofil was relieved to have the ticket withdrawn.
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