An investigation has found that the Harris County, Texas Attorney uses toll road fine slush fund to throw parties and redecorate.

The Harris County, Texas Attorney’s Office is using funds from toll road fines to bankroll lavish dinners and provide salary bonuses to well-paid employees. So far, a total of $2 million has been generated from a $1 fee assessed to Harris County motorists accused of not paying a toll. The fee is part of the $34 fine levied for each alleged instance of toll skipping. Most pay the fine even if they have been wrongly accused due to faulty equipment. State lawmakers intended the $1 fee to cover the administrative expenses of the county attorney for handling the fines.

“What I like about toll road fund is it’s toll road violator dollars,” Harris County Attorney Mike Stafford told KTRK television. “It’s not tax dollars.”

An investigative report by KTRK determined that the money is actually being spent on items not directly related to the toll road. For example, Stafford used the fund to throw a Christmas party at Pizzinis, an Italian restaurant, at a cost of $5625. A total of $17,000 in motorist fees was spent on Italian food in a single year. Another $100,000 went to pay bonuses to employees who already make as much as $225,000 a year.

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This is just plain funny!  –  A man who had been pulled over and ticketed by police ran backward up and onto a Buffalo Grove squad car, apparently in his haste to drive off.

Henry Raskin, 70, of Niles had been pulled over by a Buffalo Grove (Illinois) officer on the 400 block of Dundee Road around 11:30 a.m. Friday for driving 58 mph in a 35 mph zone, Sgt. Scott Kristiansen said. The officer wrote the ticket and returned to the car, and Raskin got ready to drive away. Except he went flying backward.

“(He) apparently was going to pull away at a high rate of speed, but the only problem was that he was in reverse,” Kristiansen said. He said Raskin was not happy about getting a ticket. He said police are reviewing the squad car videotape to see what Raskin might also be charged with.

Raskin was taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights as a precaution. Kristiansen said police don’t believe Raskin has any medical conditions that could have led to the crash. Raskin’s age also didn’t seem to play a factor, he said. The officer, a 20-year veteran of the Buffalo Grove department, was not injured, but his car will be out of service for a while. “He ended up with the left rear wheel of the car coming through his windshield, about 6 inches from his face,” Kristiansen said. “Luckily, he was not injured.” The squad car suffered significant damage to the front end, including the windshield and the hood.

Kristiansen said the police investigation so far shows the officer initiated the traffic stop properly. He said officers are trained to treat every stop as if it isn’t a routine procedure so that they are aware when unexpected circumstances like this one take place. “The officer stopped the car properly and positioned himself properly,” he said.