Roseville man posts ticket he received for warming car in own driveway

ROSEVILLE, Mich. (WJBK) - A Roseville man is becoming Facebook famous after he posted a picture of a ticket he received from a Roseville cop for warming up his vehicle in his own driveway.

Nick Taylor posted the sarcastic Facebook post on Thursday, thanking the officer who gave him the ticket. According to the picture, the ticket is for his car that was left running in the driveway with no one around.

"I've never heard of any city ordinance of law like that," Taylor said.

On Thursday, it was frigidly cold and he wanted to keep his car running while he ran into his girlfriend's house. But he left it unlocked with the key in the ignition. Chief James Berlin said that's a problem.

"This is purely a public safety issue. You can't do it. You see it all the time, people hop in a running car and Steal them. Something bad happens when that occurs," Berlin said.

The post received thousands of comments and shares since he posted it.

"I mostly just put it online to see what people thought of it and see if it's happened to anyone else because I've never heard of this," Taylor said.

The ticket shows ordinance listed as 99006 but there is no ordinance in the city or state that corresponds to 99006. Under the description of the offense, it lists VEH/MOTOR ON UNATTENDED 895. Ordinance 895 is listed as being part of 'rodent control' on Roseville's website.

FOX 2 contacted the Michigan State Police for more information. Lt. Mike Shaw says there is no state law that prohibits letting your car idle with the keys in the ignition.

At this point, it seems difficult to decipher which code the officer was enforcing. Either way, Nick has an appointment on January 26th in District Court in Roseville.

The ticket shows it was written for a 1997 Chrysler Concorde - and it likely did not come equipped with remote start. Berlin said if the car would have had auto-start, this would not be an issue.

"Our officers are cognizant of the fact that some people have auto-start. Auto-start has numerous safeguards built in to prevent the car from being stolen: car must be locked, must be in gear. you cannot put the car in gear until the key is inserted into the ignition. That is done to prevent the car from being stolen. That was not the case," Berlin said.

Taylor wrote on Facebook "Let's all take a moment to thank officer dips*** K. Keary for wasting the taxpayer's money and giving me a ticket for warming up my car in my own damn driveway."

He said he regrets the swearing and calling the officer an offensive name.

See the full, unedited ticket for yourself here (WARNING, strong language used):