The City of Chicago has initiated seizure orders for two SUVs from the motorcade of the city’s Democratic Mayor, Brandon Johnson, due to non-payment of accumulated traffic fines. Mayor Johnson’s convoy of vehicles has allegedly failed to settle a stack of fines from red light and speed camera infractions amounting to $2,130.
According to city records, these SUVs, part of a four-vehicle fleet that transports Mayor Johnson, have chalked up 21 citations and a warning within the past seven months since Johnson took office, CWB Chicago reported.
The accumulation of tickets by Mayor Brandon Johnson’s motorcade has now exceeded the total received by former mayors Rahm Emanuel, Lori Lightfoot, and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle during their entire four-year terms. This surge in violations is drawing attention to the mayor’s compliance with the city’s traffic laws.
A report on December 20, 2023, detailed the situation, noting an increase from 855 owed for eleven violations reported in mid-October to 1,725 by the end of November. Currently, the rising amount stands at $2,130. From what CWBChicago has uncovered, only two of those tickets have been paid since Johnson’s inauguration as mayor.
The news outlet reported:
Since November 30, the city has issued seizure orders against two of the four mayoral SUVs. Three seizure orders have been issued for one of the SUVs for non-payment of three speed camera tickets. The city issued three more seizure notices against another car for failing to pay two speeding tickets and a red light violation.
We’ve repeatedly asked the mayor’s office about his motorcade’s speeding and red light running habits. We’ve asked who’s supposed to pay the bills and when they will pay up. We’ve asked why the mayor needs to fly through school and park zones at more than 50 mph.
In a piece of old business, one ticket issued to the SUVs during former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s term remains unpaid. With penalties added, that bill has swelled to $244. We’re not including that in the fines and penalties accrued by Johnson. The unpaid ticket issued to Lightfoot has not resulted in a seizure order.
When Rahm Emanuel’s red light and speeding tickets were revealed during his administration, the former Obama chief of staff paid the fines out of his own pocket. He later transferred responsibility for payment to whichever Chicago police officer was driving at the time of the violation. Needless to say, the number of citations issued to Emanuel’s cars dropped dramatically after his drivers became responsible for the bills.
Preckwinkle also promised that tickets issued to her county-operated SUVs would be paid after we raised the issue with her. We later discovered that her tickets were subsequently protested and frequently dismissed.
