On Thursday, a Boston police officer pleaded guilty to sending a fake $790 traffic ticket to a man after a road rage incident that occurred in March 2019.
Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden said in a statement that 37-year-old Christopher Curtis was scheduled to go to trial on Monday, but instead, he pleaded guilty to six charges including a false report by a public employee, forgery, obtaining criminal offender record information under false pretenses, witness intimidation and etc.
Curtis will serve one year of probation as part of his guilty plea. He will also have to pay the victim $525 to repay the money spent fighting the fake ticket. Curtis’ convictions have been reported to the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission, which could affect his retirement benefits, according to Hayden.
WCVB-TV obtained court records that outlined the incident in 2019. The man whose name remains unknown said he was driving on Interstate 93 South when a white Toyota Tundra pickup truck approached the back of his car. He stated that he did not see what the driver looked like, but stated that its front grill was missing.
The unnamed driver then described how the driver of the truck honked at him, merged into the lane to the right of him, and veered to the left of him, which almost ended in him running into the median barrier.
The man received the $790 traffic tickets with the handwritten note a week later, according to WCVB. The not stated that the officer had watched the driver “go in and out of traffic,” and that he “tried pushing my truck off the road just to get into the left lane.”
“Clocked you going over 90 in a 65. I have a 6 min. Video of you driving like an a–hat, and pulled up next to you and took your picture. Try fighting this… I dare you,” the note added “Hope it was worth it. See you in court.”
The man eventually appealed the ticket, which also had been written using a fake officer identification number. An investigation found Curtis signed out the book that was used to write the ticket and was the one who ran the man’s plates and owned a white Tundra with a missing front grill. According to the court documents, Curtis admitted to writing the ticket, but said it was a “joke for another officer.”
Hayden said in a statement “The public puts their trust in members of law enforcement with the expectation that they will use the power and authority of their position for the protection and betterment of the communities they are sworn to serve.”
