'Ghost car' racks up tickets

CHICAGO, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Chicago police say they are investigating how a 1992 Chevrolet Lumina racked up nearly $4,000 in tickets in the year after it was presumed crushed.

Cheryl Thomas said the police became involved after notices seeking payment for nearly $4,000 were mailed to her home in Alsip, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Sunday.

"The police told me the car was destroyed, but it's still moving around," said Thomas, whose son, Gene, owned the car until it was impounded last year and ordered crushed by police after he failed to pay $500 in storage and towing fees, the Sun-Times reported.

During the next 12 months, toll cameras photographed the car nearly 200 times as it breezed through tollbooths without paying a cent, the Sun-Times reported.

Untangling the car's recent history has been difficult with police reporting the car was crushed, not crushed, sold, then not sold, the Sun-Times reported, noting police say the car currently is undriveable and sitting in a city-owned lot, though police would not allow the Sun-Times to see the car.