Chicago woman left with $100k parking fine in bizarre case

This Chicago woman was left with a whopping $100k parking fine after her Chevy Monte Carlo was abandoned.

Nobody likes getting a parking ticket, but paying them off is better than letting costs accumulate.

This woman found herself with a hefty bill after her ex-boyfriend ditched her car in an inaccessible airport parking lot for almost three years.

Let’s just say, it’s probably a good thing he’s an ex-boyfriend.

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How this Chicago woman ended up with a huge parking fine

Jenner Fitzgerald initially owed the city of Chicago $105,000 after her 1999 Chevy Monte Carlo had been parked at O’Hare Airport for three years.

According to Fitzgerald, her ex, Brandon Preveau, was the one who ditched the car.

The amount was – unsurprisingly – the biggest parking fine in Chicago’s history.

Fitzgerald had filed a lawsuit against her ex, United Airlines, and the city of Chicago, arguing that she shouldn’t have to pay anything.

Despite her $600 car being registered in her name, the single mother insisted that she was never the owner and shouldn’t bear responsibility for any tickets.

This isn’t the first time a parking ticket has caused strife, as demonstrated by this mysterious Shelby GT500 which spent weeks accumulating fines in Beverley Hills.

However, this car parked in an Italian village for nearly 50 years became a local icon.

A deeper dive into the case of the $100,000 parking fine

Preveau worked for United Airlines and was at liberty to park his car whilst working.

However, signs at the airport indicate that any vehicle in a lot for more than 30 days without notice would be treated as abandoned if the owner couldn’t be contacted.

At some point in November 2009, Preveau left the car to this fate and it began racking up tickets.

A month later, Fitzgerald began getting calls about the car but couldn’t move it as it was in a secured parking lot.

Her pleas for her ex to move it fell on deaf ears.

And that’s how she winded up with the eye-watering $105,000 bill.

At one point, she was told she could have her driver’s license revoked.

After four years of litigation, the case was closed in 2013.

Fortunately, she managed to get $100,000 shaved off the total fine and only had to pay $4,470.

Preveau was ordered to hand over the initial down payment of $1,600, whilst his ex would finish off the rest with monthly payments of $78.

It’s not cheap, but it’s a small mercy we suppose.

She’s not the first person to be hit with a fine – this soccer player was left on the hook for driving a Mercedes of all things.