A Miami Beach Police officer gave him seven tickets, five of them for each car window that was tinted. Legal or illegal? That’s why this young man turned to Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
His name is Nerey, not uncommon, and then I asked how he got that name.
Nerey Henry: “Belkys Nerey, from the same 7News.”
Patrick Fraser: “So that’s who your dad named you after, Belkys?”
Nerey Henry: “Yeah.”
Named him after Belkys Nerey, that 7News anchor and Bite with Belkys girl.
And on that night, Nerey Henry had just had a bite to eat on Miami Beach and was heading home.
Nerey Henry: “There was two police officers parked on the side, and then he asked me to pull over, right? So I pulled over.”
Nerey was with a friend. The officer walked up.
Nerey Henry: “I asked him, ‘Why was I being pulled over?’ He said he’ll let me know in a little bit.”
And boy, did he let him know.
Nerey Henry: “He came back and he told me that tonight I’ll be getting seven tickets, and five of those tickets were basically for the windows being too dark, the tint.”
That’s right, seven tickets, one for each of the five windows being too dark, one for expired registration.
Nerey says he had the current registration, but he was so nervous he handed the officer the old one one. The seventh ticket was for no license plate obscured by frame, which only covered the word Broward.
Nerey Henry: “I don’t think that was necessary because it was just the frame around the license plate. You can still read all the letters and the numbers.”
Monica was with Nerey and says that while he was nervous, he was polite and calm.
Monica Florestal: “He wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t laughing. It was a straight face.”
Nerey’s conclusion?
Nerey Henry: “Let’s say he was having a bad day.”
But the officer, who in case you are wondering, was an African American officer, left Nerey with a bad day. Each of the seven tickets was for $129, totaling $903.
Nerey Henry: “It’s stressful to think about the money, that much money.”
Well, Howard, is it legal to give five tickets for the same tinted windows?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “No. The law allows a ticket for the front seat windows and the rear seat and back window. That’s it, so three of these tickets need to be thrown out.”
We then spoke to Mark Gold, the founder of The Ticket Clinic, who has resolved seven million traffic tickets for people.
Mark Gold: “I’ve never seen, in my 30-plus years of practice, anyone getting more than one window tint ticket.”
We contacted Miami Beach Police. In a statement, we were told, “The officers conducted themselves professionally during the entire interaction,” and, “Each window was tested by the second officer on scene.”
The Ticket Clinic then offered to fight all seven tickets for Nerey for free.
Mark Gold: “We won on all seven, but they were all on technical basis, not through trial. We were prepared to go to trial. We wanted to go to trial.”
And an observation from Mark Gold: officers use the tag frame as a reason to pull you over.
Mark Gold: “One thing you want to do is make sure your tag is not obscured. If you have a license plate frame, make sure it doesn’t cover any of the words.”
Patrick Fraser: “There they are, all seven dismissed. We’re done. It’s over.”
Nerey took the tint off his windows and can drive without worrying after that call to Help Me Howard.
Nerey Henry: “Thank you, first of all … and the Ticket Clinic.”
One final question, Nerey: you like that name?
Nerey Henry: “Yeah, it’s unique, the Nerey part, yeah, pretty nice.”
Hope that makes Belkys smile.
Now, Mark mentioned the technicalities that got some of the tickets dismissed. One of them, the state had 180 days to bring the case to court. They didn’t, and so The Ticket Clinic got those violations thrown out.
Something tinting your outlook? Ready to peel it back to find a solution? We might be the ticket to get your problem dismissed.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.