John Beck bought his Ford F-350 last January after trading in his old Dodge pickup.
While his heavy-duty truck is his full-time vehicle, his old ride is getting him in trouble.
This summer, the City of Puyallup snapped a picture of it running a red light and John got a ticket in the mail.
Jesse Jones: "So you're sitting at home, go to the mail box..."
John Beck: "Surprise, surprise, surprise! I haven't been in Puyallup lately. Now I've got a ticket from them!"
John had sent his sellers report into the state months before the ticket was sent. Bottom line: He shouldn't be liable for this ticket.
Jesse Jones: "It seems that somebody dropped the ball."
John Beck: "Exactly, no argument there."
So I went to the city court in Puyallup looking for answers.
Here's what I found out: When a vehicle runs a red light or is caught speeding on camera, the information is sent to a company called American Traffic Solutions in Scottsdale, AZ. They run the plate and send it back so the cops can issue a ticket. The company never checks seller's reports and that's where John got stuck.
Lt. Dave McDonald of the Puyallup Police Department says that’s the way the law is written.
"The RCW, which was created by the legislature, clearly said what information can be released to a non-law enforcement agency such as this situation and seller's report information is not part of that," he said.
Once I contacted Puyallup Police, they found the new owner and sent him the ticket. John thinks the law clearly needs a tweak.
"I don't want to see it happen to anyone else, there's really no reason for it to have happened. Period," he said.
I talked to American Traffic Solutions about this and they said they are looking into this further and working with Puyallup to see if they can do anything different so the right person gets the ticket.
For consumer concerns, e-mail Jesse to getjesse@king5.com call toll-free 877-51-JESSE. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/GetJesse.
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