Chicago resident Jennifer Fitzgerald has finally settled her airport parking tickets — $106,000 worth of them.
But she'll pay just a small fraction of what she originally owed under a deal she's reached for a car registered in her name that was left for nearly three years in an employee parking lot at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
According to a lawsuit that was dismissed last week, Fitzgerald's ex-beau, Brandon Preveau, who worked at O'Hare, abandoned the 1995 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, where it began collecting tickets on Nov. 17, 2009.
Fitzgerald, who compounded the problem by failing to show up in court, says she couldn't access the car because it was in an employee lot. And, according to The Chicago Tribune, the vehicle became a sort of ticket magnet over the next three years:
"Tickets went beyond the car being abandoned in the lot. Fitzgerald was also ticketed multiple times for improperly tinted windows, not having the proper city sticker, expired plates or registration, cracked or missing windows and broken lamps, according to the lawsuit.
"In all, 678 tickets were placed on the car without it ever being towed, according to the complaint."
It was finally towed away in October 2012.
Fitzgerald has agreed to pay about $4,500, with a $1,600 down payment, which Preveau will reimburse her for. She has agreed to pay off the rest over the next three years at $78 a month.
"Parties came together and worked out a reasonable resolution to this situation," Roderick Drew, the city's law department spokesman said.
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