Teresa Westover, whose 2-year-old daughter received a citation, told Fox 5 DC that she called the Department of Public Works but they refused to void the ticket.
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Ms Westover, an attorney, insisted that Harper is innocent and has attempted to have the fine rescinded. The club mails out information and promotions for fans of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Westover’s alma mater. She argued that her toddler did not haul a trash bag or carry her Bucky’s Buddies envelope to the end of the alley.
She also told the inspector her daughter’s age and asked that the citation be rescinded.
“I’ve seen the cutest little 2-year-old, not an illegal dumper”, he said.
When Harper’s parents received the citation and fine in the mail they were outraged. She called the Department of Public works to get the ticket rescinded.
Westover’s neighbors said they don’t want to start seeing littering enforcement because their alley in their neighborhood has become a dumping ground for things like stereos and lawnmowers. She said every week she or her husband leaves the trash bin outside their home in the alley for garbage pickup. Seeing as the collection truck isn’t able to squeeze into the back street, an additional team pulls out the trash bags from everyone’s bins and carries them down the alley to be tossed in the truck. Maybe, Westover wondered, a garbage man accidently left the bag behind?
“Just because you find a piece of mail on the ground, obviously doesn’t mean that person was the one that put it there”, said Chuck Westover, Harper’s father.
“I opened up an envelope that listed Harper as having violated DC’s littering code”, said Harper’s mother Theresa.
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“I have to send them a birth certificate”, Theresa Westover said.
