Man Pays Orlando Parking Ticket 35 Years Late, Requests Receipt

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on July 01, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Stanley Baker paid for a 35-year-old parking ticket.

Baker, 89, paid the $1 fine as a joke according to his son, Fritz Baker, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

In fact, the ticket wasn't even his - he found it in a garage sale, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Baker had found the 35-year-old parking ticket tucked in a book called "An Introduction to Western Civilization" in 1995. At the time, Baker and his wife were running a business in Orlando called Cookies by Design. They have since relocated to Michigan, reports the Sentinel.

A lover of jokes, Baker sent the ticket in its original envelope with a note that said "So sorry for the delay! 36 years late! Better late than never!" Though, the ticket was technically only 35 and a half years late - it was issued on November 7, 1975, reports the Sentinel.

He also requested a receipt.

Police became involved because the original envelope sent the bill and the ticket to the police department, which uses the room as an auditorium. The original Orlando night and traffic court is no longer there, according to the Sentinel.

Will Baker have to pay some extra fines on his super late ticket? Probably not, as police can't even determine for sure that it was or wasn't his ticket in the first place. Traffic ticket records for 1975 have been destroyed, the Sentinel Reports. And, according to a city spokesperson, ticket regulations only call for a $15 fine if the ticket is mailed in two weeks late.

Plus, the police thought it was a "hilarious" joke, the Sentinel reports.

So, next time you want to get a bunch of cops in a good mood, maybe you should take a page from Stanley Baker's book and pay off a 35-year-old parking ticket that isn't even yours.

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