Oceanside Ca - No helmet? That's a $275 ticket — even if you're not on wheels

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Oceanside P.D. AT THERE BEST, READ BELOW
No helmet? That's a $275 ticket — even if you're not on wheels

Dad loses appeal of ticket he got holding 5-year-old's hand as child
learned in skate park

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — A dad who was baffled when an Oceanside police
officer gave him a citation for not wearing a helmet inside a city
skate park was found guilty Wednesday when he tried to fight the
ticket in traffic court. But his fine was suspended.

“Are you serious?"
That was the reaction by Steve Malfatto after Officer Gary Truscott
gave him a citation on Oct. 29.

Malfatto was upset because he was wearing sandals, didn't have a
skateboard, and was simply holding his 5-year-old son's hand as he
learned how to skate at the North River Road complex.

"You would normally think you needed a helmet if you skating the park
right? That's what my impression was," Malfatto said during an
interview in December. "I was just being a responsible parent more
than anything. You know, just making sure my son didn't fall down
'cause he is 5."
Malfatto noticed Officer Truscott writing a group of teenagers
citations for not wearing helmets and thought it would be a good
chance to use the flat part of the park to continue teaching his son
to skate without any other people around. His son was equipped with a
helmet, elbow pads, kneepads and wrist guards.
Officer Truscott promptly called him over as soon as he stepped into the park.
"So, we walk over, and I'm thinking the cop is going to use my son as
an example to these kids," said Malfatto, who instead got a ticket,
which later arrived in the mail as a $275 citation.

On Wednesday, a traffic court commissioner found Malfatto guilty, but
suspended his fine.

Kit Maira
Editor V-Twin News
Associate Editor
Easyriders, V-Twin, Biker
Paisano Publications, LLC
28210 Dorothy Drive
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
KMaira@easyriders.net