WTH: For Today

Man Ticketed 170 Times for 'Nothing'


Tom Feddor racked up 170 parking ticket notices in the last two years -- but his car was not even present at the scenes of the alleged infractions.

Feddor is not a rogue city driver. He's the holder of a unique license plate number that became the target of a Chicago Department of Revenue glitch, the Chicago Tribune reported.

It turns out parking attendants had been using the number 0 as a test case for new electronic ticketing devices. They had no idea that 0 was an actual assigned plate number nor that it belonged to Feddor and that he was receiving the phony tickets.

Low license plate numbers are typically reserved for state VIPs, but Feddor's 0 plate is a family heirloom. The plate number has been in the Feddor family for almost 40 years, originally assigned to Feddor's grandfather in 1971 for special service to then-Illinois Secretary of State John Lewis.

When the deluge of parking tickets began, Feddor assumed an Illinois higher-up had launched a campaign to get his plate number. But when judges advised him to change his plates as the mistaken tickets began piling up, Feddor was not interested. According to the Tribune, the 39-year-old realtor enjoys having a lower plate number than the governor.

The city is taking measures to ensure registered plate numbers are no longer used for test cases. Feddor will receive refunds on any mistaken tickets he has already paid.