Monkey Business

Man Dons Mask for Speed-Camera Photos
AOL News

(Sept. 8) - An Arizona man who has been served 37 speeding tickets in the mail is refusing to pay them because he says the pictures captured by the state's photo-enforcement cameras don't show that it's him driving, AZcentral.com reported Tuesday.

The photos on the tickets all show the driver wearing a monkey mask.

"Not one of them there is a picture where you can identify the driver," said Dave Vontesmar, a flight attendant who works at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. "The ball's in their court. I sent back all these ones I got with a copy of my driver's license and said, 'It's not me. I'm not paying them.' "

But police disagree and say they've been watching him closely.

"We watched him four different times put the monkey mask on and put the giraffe-style mask on," Officer Dave Porter told AZcentral.com. "Based on surveillance, we were positive that Vontesmar was the driver."

Still, Vontesmar is confident that he won't have to pay the fines, which could exceed $6,500.

"It's obviously a revenue grab," he said of the new photo-enforcement program. "They're required by law to ID the driver of the vehicle. If they can't identify the driver or the vehicle by the picture, what are they doing to identify the driver?"

I went into this story fully expecting that the driver would have no leg to stand on. I got a similar ticket in Harlingen the other day (although I think it was BS because I don't remember running any light, but Id rather die than have to deal with any Valley related situation) and my mom got the ticket in Odessa because my truck is registered under her name. Thus, I thought the fault was with the title owner. But I guess Arizona law states the driver must be identified. If so, this guy may e a criminal genious not seen since Skeletor.