Home video is all Antonio Menefee has left of his prized motor scooter.
Two years ago, Antonio’s typical route home took a terrifying turn when he pulled up to a red light in Boston and found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.
“He had told me just to get off of the scooter, and by that time my heart was just pounding. I was nervous, very, very scared, so I was just like, ‘Here, just take it. Just don’t shoot me,’” Antonio told us.
In a split second, the blink of an eye, the scooter was gone!
“I kept telling him, ‘No matter what, we can’t replace you.’ You know, even if we never get another scooter, we still have our son,” said Antonio’s mother, Donna Menefee.
The Menefees filed a police report. Two years went by and still no sign of the scooter. Until…
“My husband receives a phone call around June. It’s from the city saying that they have the scooter at the city tow lot,” Donna told us.
Shocked, Antonio’s father went down to the tow yard. The good news: it was Antonio’s scooter. The bad news: it was trashed.
“It’s duct-taped, the wires are pulled out… It’s just a mess,” Donna described.
Donna says that her husband showed the tow yard employee the police report and he left. He figured they would get rid of the scooter.
“Two months later, I receive a letter from the Office of the Parking Clerk,” Donna told us.
It said the Menefees owed nearly $900 for an abandoned vehicle… the stolen scooter!
“‘We are the victim and you all are coming after us. Do you not understand? Here’s the police report!’” Donna said.
Donna called and emailed everyone she could think of, including the mayor and the city council. Nobody would help. So Donna made one more phone call – to Solve It 7, and we revved things up.
We asked Robert Harnais, president-elect of the Massachusetts Bar Association, if the fact that the scooter was stolen made a difference.
“Oh absolutely. These are victims of a crime,” Harnais said. “It would be absolutely unjust for the city to try and collect money from somebody that did nothing at all but be a victim of a crime.”
We hit the road, going to City Hall for answers.
“It does appear that there was a lack of communication,” said Gina Fiandaca, Interim Deputy Commissioner for the Boston Transportation Department. “We didn’t realize that the scooter had actually been reported stolen and that they had a copy of the stolen property report with them at the time.”
As a result of our investigation, Fiandaca’s office “decided to dismiss all of the charges”.
A big relief for the Menefees.
“Nobody could get it done,” said Donna. “Solve it 7 is obviously the best way to go. So if you’re having an issue similar to this, a consumer issue, take it to Solve It 7.”
That’s some good advice. What’s your story? We would love to hear it. Scoot on over to your phone and give us a call at 617-367-7777 or send us an email at solveit7@whdh.com.