Christine Adamski said she was surprised last week when she received a citation in the mail for a comment she made on Facebook, but she also knew immediately she wasn’t going to pay it.
Adamski, 25, opened the $50 ticket from the Will County Forest Preserve District last week and read the letter alleging she had used a dog park without a proper permit.
The citation arrived at her Bolingbrook home with a letter explaining the ticket, an application for a dog park permit as well as a copy of her social media post “admitting her guilt.”
“I laughed,” Adamski said Thursday. “I was like, this is totally untrue. Obviously I’m not going to pay this.”
Adamski said she received a call from Lt. Tracey Phillips of the Will County Forest Preserve District Police Thursday informing her that the ticket has been rescinded.
She said she’s happy about the end result but wishes the forest preserve protection officer who issued the ticket would have re-read her statement and had more than a Facebook post to go on.
Adamski posted on the Whalon Park Dog Park group’s Facebook page in response to concerns about kennel cough among some of the dogs using the park.
“I was feeling bad that I haven’t bought a pass and been bringing Ginger there but I’m pretty glad I haven’t,” wrote Adamski. “So not going to worry about it until later. I hope all the doggies get better soon.”
A forest protection district employee noticed the comment and forwarded it to a forest preserve protection officer, who took the comment to mean the woman was using the dog park without a permit.
“The employee had good intentions, but it wasn’t a good idea,” Lt. Phillips said Wednesday.
After receiving the citation, Adamski posted about it on the dog park page and noted the citation came with a letter stating she had posted on a social media site that she had “knowingly entered a dog park without a valid 2014 permit.”
“That’s dead wrong,” she wrote. “I haven’t gone there since 2013!”
Forest Preserve District Executive Director Marcy DeMauro said she contacted the district’s police chief Tuesday about the citation and learned it was already under review. DeMauro stressed the district does not monitor social media in search of potential law breakers nor should the district issue a citation based on a post made on a social media site.
“We treat any information like that as a tip and that has to be verified before any action is taken on our part,” she said adding, “We would go to the dog park to see if that individual is actually there and using the dog park without a permit.”
DeMauro said no disciplinary action has been taken against the officer who issued the citation but noted the issue is still under review. The officer who issued the citation has been an employee of the forest preserve district since 2008. Forest preserve district officials declined to identify the officer.
Adamski, runs a pet-sitting company and said she plans to eventually return to the dog park. She noted the permit fees are higher for her because she lives outside of the Will County Forest Preserve District. She typically buys a half year permit for $50.
“It’s a very nice, well kept dog park and people there are really friendly and Ginger has best friends there that she always plays with,” she said, adding that other dog park users were supportive. “It’s nice feeling loved like that.”
Tribune reporter Geoff Ziezulewicz contributed to this report.
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