Medicine Hat police are standing behind an officer’s decision to ticket a man who pushed his stalled car through an intersection last week.
Hatter David Campbell told the News he plans to fight the ticket in court, and that he was simply clearing a lane after his vehicle ran out of gas near the bottom of Dunmore Hill.
Police said in a rare statement on Monday that he should have waited for instructions from the officer who had just arrived on scene.
A release also states that body camera footage taken at the time would show their case.
The issue gained some notoriety after the News outlined Campbell’s complaint that he was treated unfairly. The was published on Saturday after the News didn’t receive a response from police officials.
The statement on Monday says that the officer was parked behind Campbell’s car with lights flashing, thereby creating a level of safety for themselves and other drivers.
During a brief discussion between police and an unrelated party, the release states, the car was pushed through the intersection “placing himself and other drivers on the roadway in jeopardy.”
Police also say that the ticket, and $243 fine, was for failing to enter an intersection safely.
That’s about half the value and without demerits attached compared to a citation for disobeying a traffic signal (running a red light), police officials said.
