In 2013, Angus McCoubrey became convinced a Boston cab driver was taking a long route to run up the fare, so he paid only $5 of the $7 fare. The driver filed a complaint with a police officer, and the officer issued a citation. But McCoubrey, who doesn’t live in Boston, never received it. Earlier this year, McCoubrey was in a fender bender in Chilmark, Mass. When police ran his information, they found an outstanding warrant, not for misdemeanor taxi fare evasion but for felony tax evasion. The person who had entered the charge in the system all those years ago had dropped the “i” and left out the word “fare.” McCoubrey spent two days in jail before the issue was corrected. It turns out the original charge against him was also in error. The police officer wrote him up under a law that applies only to evading Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority fares. Prosecutors dismissed that charge.
The post Brickbat: Pay Your Taxes. Taxis. Whatever. appeared first on Reason.com.
