Man who's never been to NYC gets ticket

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - The State DMV suspended the license of a southtowns man, but he didn't even know it.

Bob Cegielski has been driving on a suspended license for more than two years. Fortunately for him, he found out from his insurance agent before the cops arrested him.

"'You are suspended.' For what? 'You got a traffic ticket in New York City.' I says, 'Ruthie, I have never been to New York City in my whole life. I have lived in this state 63 years - have never been there,'" Cegielski recalled.

But he told News 4 he has never been formally notified of the license suspension or even sent a summons to appear in court. And his insurance agent, Ruth Bucki, told News 4 it turned out to be a freak coincidence that Cegielski's insurance carrier uncovered the license suspension.

Bucki of Randall Insurance Agency said, "They had done a motor vehicle report - just a routine - to find out that his license was suspended, and had been suspended for two years."

She also said they had just written Cegielski's policy back in February. So why didn't the suspension show up then?

"We just wrote his policy with this company in February, and according to the records they found, he really did not have a license in February. But it did not show, so there is something wrong there," Bucki explained.

Eventually Cegielski contacted the State DMV to get the suspension reversed, but trying to find out from authorities in New York City? Maddening.

"I called there, I got an answering machine, and then another machine, and then another machine. I just go down the line - machine after machine after machine. I says, forget this," Cegielski said.

He sent a form into the state more than a month ago to open his case with the DMV and still hasn't heard anything. Friday after noon a spokesman for the DMV told News 4, they are working on it and should have an answer early next week.

The ticket Cegielski received that suspended his license was for "disobeying a traffic device." So it appears someone ran a red light in Brooklyn and was snapped by a police camera. The image must have implicated Cegielski by mistake.