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'It's Just Not Fair': Driver Gets $55 Ticket For Honking At Police Officer

AUBURN (CBS) - Stephanie Kelley had no idea the horn on her Prius would trigger such a noisy dust-up. "I didn't do anything wrong," Kelley said.

She's talking about an incident on Route 20 in Auburn several weeks ago when she says a police officer in an unmarked SUV peeled out in front of her as she swerved to avoid him.

"And as I did I blared my horn at him, and I looked over and I saw that it was a police officer," Kelley said.

Stephanie Kelley
Stephanie Kelley (WBZ-TV)

Turns out the officer was actually pursuing another car but wound up writing Kelley a rare noise ticket for "excessive and unnecessary" use of her horn.

"I had to swerve around him, why wouldn't I get angry and then to get pulled over and get a citation for that action is completely infuriating," Kelley said.

But Stephanie Kelley got even more upset when she learned that the officer told his superiors something not written in any report -- accusing her of giving him the middle finger from behind the wheel.

"I did not flip this guy off," Kelley said.

Kelley -- who works for the state -- says she has the utmost respect for police officers and denies doing anything beyond throwing her hands up in disgust.

"It seems to me that would be an underlying reason for this officer to be angry with me," Kelley said.

After pleading her case to several town officials, the police chief told her the ticket was within the officer's "professional discretion."

"It's just not fair," Kelley said. "It's my word against his basically."

The Auburn Police Chief tells WBZ the officer is a "gentle giant" with no complaints despite thousands of citations issued.

Even though paying the $55 quietly would be far less costly and troublesome, Kelley vows to fight this ticket until the end.

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