DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS, Fla. — A Fort Myers man almost paid a $50 parking citation for a car that wasn't his, highlighting a rare but concerning mix-up in the county's automated parking enforcement system.
Jason Kafus received a parking violation in the mail, claiming his vehicle was parked downtown for more than 16 hours on a Friday morning in August. The citation showed his correct license plate number, but there was one problem: Kafus was at work when the alleged violation occurred, and the vehicle in the photo wasn't his.
"All I see is my license plates, I'm gonna pay it. I'm like, can't beat the system. They got me, whatever it is," Kafus said.
Watch Fort Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price's report:
The citation stated that Kafus's vehicle was parked from 9:58 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 15, until 2 a.m. Saturday morning — nearly 16 hours. But Kafus works Monday through Friday and said he "definitely can't get Friday off."
"I was never in this parking lot at 9:58 in the morning on a Friday. I would've been fired," Kafus said.
It was Kafus's coworker who noticed something was wrong.
"He said, bro, but your car don't even look like that. And I'm looking, I'm like, that's not my vehicle," Kafus said.
The citation showed what appeared to be a black SUV, while Kafus drives a red SUV. Despite the obvious vehicle mismatch, Kafus said he nearly paid the fine because his license plate number was correct.
Kafus noted that the fine increases from $50 to $70 if not paid within a certain timeframe, and failure to pay can result in license suspension.
"In panic mode, you're like, oh my god, I just got the ticket," Kafus said. "The fact that they try to get you to pay this so fast is almost like they're putting pressure on you."
Instead of paying, Kafus appealed the ticket. The response came back within two days, says Kafus: "Oh, we'll attach it to the right vehicle. No further action is required."
Jennifer Bell, Director of Marketing with Premium Parking, the third-party vendor that processes payments for the Lee County-owned lot, explained what happened.
"In this situation, it is a less than 1% issue where the vehicle that entered had almost identical license plate," Bell said.
According to Bell, two SUVs with nearly identical license plates entered the same parking facility on the same day at different times, causing the mix-up in the camera system.
"The likelihood of that ever happening on the same location with the same type of car is unbelievably rare, less than 1%," Bell said.
The company uses what Bell described as "fuzzy logic within statistics that allows you to match up to three numbers or characters at a time" to identify vehicles. In this case, the system matched Kafus's license plate with the wrong vehicle's entry time.
Bell emphasized that none of the cameras in the lot are faulty and that the company recognized the error before Kafus even contacted them about the appeal.
"We were in the process of issuing a void to send to the client and the customer before he brought up the issue to us," Bell said.
In this particular case, no one will receive a ticket for the parking violation, Bell confirmed.
Kafus's advice to other drivers: carefully review any parking citations you receive.
"Start looking at the time first, because you know if you was in that particular place at that particular time," he said. "Secondly, look at the vehicle."
Bell said Premium Parking has an easy appeal process available on their website for anyone who believes they received a citation in error.
"We are more than happy to hear everyone out and make sure that we're issuing invoices in the correct manner," Bell said.
The parking lot, located off Second Street across from Kava and Taco Works, is clearly marked with "pay before walking away" signs and QR codes for payment.
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