Driver's Fines Hit $15,000 In One Week
But police say Gordon Hapi should stop breaking the law and then they will leave him alone.
Mr Hapi appeared in Levin District Court this month charged with up to 16 different traffic-related offences.
Most of the charges were laid within one week by the same Foxton police officer. The unemployed 20-year-old has now racked up almost $25,000 in fines, and says there is no way he can pay them.
"They are pulling me up every day, just picking on me," he told The Dominion Post.
"They just suspect me on a few things and they've got no proof, and they're bullying me. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?"
But police scoffed at suggestions they were picking on Mr Hapi, and said his fines stemmed from his failure to adhere to the law.
"Police do not run people out of town," said Levin senior sergeant Willie Roy. "Get your car legal and your licence legal and you will not get a ticket."
Most of Mr Hapi's fines relate to a 1986 Mercedes-Benz he is doing up. The charges laid within the single week included tickets for not having the car registered or warranted, driving without a licence and driving without a seatbelt.
His lawyer, Brian Gore, told the court that, on two of the traffic notices, Hapi's occupation was written as "thief".
His client was also the subject of "wanted" posters put up in Foxton and Foxton Beach that claimed he was involved in the theft of motorcycles.
Mr Hapi admitted he has spent time in prison for several driving indiscretions, including driving while disqualified, but said he had been trying to keep his nose clean.
Since the movie posters went up he had been barred from at least one shop and no one would employ him.
"I'm only young. I can't get no jobs around here or nothing. Everyone knows me around here because of the posters."
Foxton sergeant John May said police took Mr Hapi to court because he ignored infringement notices.
"As a road user he needs to obey the rules of the road. He continued to not obey them and got ticketed ...
"Throwing infringement upon infringement notice at him was having no effect, he would simply snub his nose at us, so we decided to take a more direct action."
October 01, 2008
Related Posters Article
