Photo: simonkr (Getty)
No one likes to get a parking ticket, that is why you pop numerous blood vessels when you return to your parked car only to see a ticket under your windshield wipers. But it sounds like employees at Sicilia Pizza in Salt Lake City never had to worry about getting parking tickets because four cops would forgive their illegal parking as long as they got free pizza.
For the last two years, Officer Jeff Clegg and three of his colleagues have accepted free food from the pizzeria in order for the establishment employees to avoid parking violations. As much a $19,000 worth of fines — just under 800 tickets at $25 each — were uncollected.
“If I see a menu of the restaurant in the lower left-hand corner of the vehicle, it is either an employee or the owner’s (of the restaurant) vehicle and we are not to cite those vehicles,” Clegg told KUTV. “It got to the point that we just go in the back (of the restaurant) and get what you want, so we would go behind the counter and get our own pizza.”
The officers would only hand out warnings, but not actually write out any tickets.
The free pizza deal was made between Clegg and restaurant owner Amrol Hararah, and was discovered during the station’s probe of Clegg’s firing, which he claimed was due to his complaints of workplace bullying. Yeah, that was lie. Clegg eventually admitted it was because of all that free pizza he got.
h/t NY Post
