Village issues real tickets for fake speed limit

A Whitehouse police officer pulled over Thomas Villagomez III at roughly midnight on Waterville Street on Dec. 19, 2015. Villagomez said he was heading to Kroger outside of town for some last-minute Christmas shopping after watching the newest Star Wars movie, which had opened the day before.

The officer used radar to clock Villagomez at 46 mph — 11 over the posted limit.

Once Villagomez was stopped, the officer found less than 100 grams of marijuana in the car along with drug paraphernalia. Villagomez pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor on Jan. 12, 2016, and his driver’s license was suspended for six months.

The posted 35 mph limit, however, is fake and contrary to state law, which sets a 50 mph limit for that part of Waterville Street because it’s part of State Route 64. The sign was installed with the intent to slow traffic as it approaches the village downtown.

Although Whitehouse Police Chief Mark McDonough said recently police only cite drivers who drive in excess of 50 mph, a review of records by The Blade discovered that’s not true.

From July 2014 through March, 10 drivers were ticketed for exceeding the posted limit but beneath the statutory 50 mph. Nineteen others were cited for going between 51 and 55 mph in the posted 35 mph zone. Although over the statutory limit, those citations put points on their licenses improperly.

Police also cited 15 people for going faster than 56 mph, which would result in two license points regardless of whether the posted or statutory limits were applied.

Villagomez said he doesn’t feel wronged by the encounter because he did break the law by having marijuana in the car, and he doesn’t intend to contest the stop. But it bothers him that the stop should never have occurred.

“I don’t know how that benefits me,” said Villagomez, who represented himself through the proceedings and now lives in Columbus. “It’s not like it’s a felony or something.”

But Jeremy Levy, a Toledo defense attorney, said police do not have the right to stop drivers based on the 35 mph signs placed by the village.

“The actual speed limit is the only thing that matters,” Levy said.

Villagomez could still drive to work but could not take himself anywhere else.

“It was very inconvenient,” he said. “I was on other people’s time for six months.”

Maumee Municipal Judge Gary Byers technically presided over all of these cases, although many ticketed individuals just paid the fine without appearing in court.

The judge said he was unaware of the discrepancy between the posted limit written on citations and Waterville Street’s statutory speed limit.

“Quite frankly, if that’s the case, that’s disturbing,” he said. “If someone wanted to contest, that’s something they could use as a defense.”

Those who paid their tickets could file to change their pleas based on that discrepancy, Byers said, with cases then adjudicated individually. While Municipal Court lacks authority over the village officials, he said, a Whitehouse resident or someone cited by village police could seek a writ of prohibition in Lucas County Common Pleas Court to block further enforcement.

McDonough admitted last month that Waterville Street’s posted limit didn’t match that set by state law. During a meeting of the village council, councilmen discussed moving the westbound 35 mph sign farther east, from its current spot near Whitehouse Square Boulevard to near the Finzel Road roundabout.

“We can do it,” McDonough responded. “The problem is, we can’t enforce it.”