Parking violator wrests camera from officer in Modesto

MODESTO -- A man who parked illegally near Modesto Junior College this morning apparently really didn’t want a ticket.

The man, who has not been identified, started to drive away as a parking enforcement officer started writing the ticket, Modesto Police Lt. Jolene Gonzales said. The incident was reported at 11:23 a.m. near College and Stoddard avenues.

“As the individual drove off, the enforcement officer took a photo of the car and took down some information on a notepad,” Gonzales said. The driver walked back, ripped the camera and notepad out of the hands of the officer, and drove away.

The enforcement officer, a man in his 70s, was shaken up but not hurt.

Police are looking for the man, described as a black male in a red had, and the car, a silver Mustang GT convertible with a black top.

If officers find him, the man is going to have more trouble than the original $33 parking violation - police plan to arrest him on charges of strong-arm robbery, a felony.