Dead man gets ticket for parking too long in 2-hour zone

A Seattle parking enforcement officer ticketed a man on Tuesday who authorities say was likely dead hours before the ticket was issued. At about 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the parking enforcement officer marked the man's car in a 2-hour parking zone. The woman returned a few minutes after noon and found the car hadn't moved.

"The PEO rapped on the window twice in an attempt to wake the man," police spokeswoman Renee Witt said in a statement. "When she was unsuccessful she concluded that the individual was simply a sound sleeper. The PEO left the ticket on the windshield and continued her patrol." She later learned he was dead. About 40 minutes after the man was fined $42 for parking too long in the 2-hour spot, his girlfriend found the car with a GPS device.

Medics were dispatched at 12:47 p.m., but the man was unconscious and unresponsive when they arrived, Fire Department spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen said. The driver was Derek Michael Eldridge, 36, according to the King County Medical Examiner's Office. The office is waiting for tests before releasing his cause and manner of death, though police say there was no sign of homicidal violence. Eldridge's exact time of death was not released.

Parking enforcement officers have radios and a reasonable expectation to call for help in an emergency. But police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said it's not uncommon for parking enforcement officers to find people asleep in their cars. The woman, a 29-year parking enforcement veteran, did nothing wrong in the circumstances, he said. The ticket issued was Eldrige's first parking ticket in Seattle Municipal Court, records show. The ticket was voided about an hour and a half after he was pronounced dead.