Michigan city pays driver $1,000 to settle tire marking case

By ED WHITE
Associated Press

A Michigan city agreed to pay $1,000 to a car owner to settle a lawsuit about marking tires to catch parking violators. The deal in Bay City followed a declaration in August that a similar practice in Saginaw was illegal. Federal Judge Thomas Ludington said chalking tires without a warrant violated constitutional protections against unreasonable searches. Jody Tyvela received tickets at least six times in 2016 and 2017. Without having time meters, parking enforcers marked tires to determine who was parked too long in downtown Bay City. Tyvela will receive $1,000 and her attorneys will get $59,000 under the settlement with Bay City and the city’s Downtown Development Authority.