Originally Posted by
kingston
Thank goodness I live in Chicago where the cops have better things to do.
What happens if you just ignore the tickets and don't pay?
You had 2 options when the officer asked for I.D. to write the ticket. Present something, with a drivers license or state issued I.D. or US (or other) passport as typical, OR get arrested, taken to the local precinct until such time as they can determine your identity. Sometimes they’ll be polite and take your bike with you, sometimes it’s left on the street. Oh Well.
If you present some form of valid I.D. and then do not pay the tickets, they issue a warrant for your arrest (well they do that anyway if you fail to pay, but with no good I.D. maybe they’ll never catch you). They also increase the fines in a major way, what was $500 or so is likely going to be 3 times or more then that when all is said and done. If they ever catch you for something else and determine you owe money and didnt pay some fines, it’s likely an overnite at Rikers Island. In NYC and likely other big cities, they stop and hold a LOT of people for fail to pay misdemeanor violations.